James and Wynsleen Ellegood Press Release (Sentencing)

May 19, 2009
For Immediate Release

DESOTO DOCTOR, HIS WIFE AND THREE COMPANIES ARE SENTENCED

St. Louis, MO: James and Wynsleen Ellegood and three companies were all sentenced on felony charges involving conspiracy, making false statements regarding physician home visits that were not actually provided and money laundering, Acting United States Attorney Michael W. Reap announced today.

Dr. James Harold Ellegood and his wife Wynsleen, a nurse, operated Missouri Physician Home Services, Inc. (PHS) from their home in Desoto, Missouri. Dr. Rajitha Goli of St. Louis provided medical services to patients of James Ellegood and PHS.

Goli’s license to practice medicine in Missouri was revoked following her 2002 federal felony conviction for health care fraud in the District of Nebraska, making her ineligible to practice medicine in Missouri until at least 2010. As a result of the conviction, Goli was also excluded for 20 years from participation in Medicare and Medicaid as a provider and could not submit claims for services that she provided to Medicare and Medicaid patients after her exclusion.

Hanford Nuclear Services, Inc., West Plains, Missouri is owned by Rengarajan Soundararajan, PhD, a chemist, who is the brother-in-law of Wynsleen Ellegood.

Arogya, Inc., of Durham, North Carolina, is a medical consulting company owned and operated by Goli’s two brothers, who are also medical doctors.

JAMES HAROLD ELLEGOOD of DeSoto, Missouri, and his corporation PHS both pled guilty today to one count of conspiracy to defraud a health care program. Dr. Ellegood was sentenced to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay $983,140 restitution. PHS was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay the same amount of restitution. In the plea agreements for Dr. Ellegood and PHS, Dr. Ellegood admitted that he knew that Dr. Goli was an excluded provider and that Medicare and Medicaid would no longer pay for her services. Nonetheless, Dr. Ellegood and PHS submitted numerous reimbursement claims for services provided by Dr. Goli that falsely represented that Dr. Ellegood had personally provided the services that Dr. Goli had actually provided. To conceal payments from PHS and Dr. Ellegood for the services Dr. Goli provided patients, Dr. Ellegood and PHS funneled her payments through two companies, Arogya and Hanford Nuclear Services. These two companies in turn made payments to Dr. Goli.

In their plea agreements last February, Dr. Ellegood and PHS admitted that they had used his provider number to submit claims to Medicare falsely represented that he had provided services to patients when he was actually out of the country at the time of service, including trips to the Bahamas and Mexico.

WYNSLEEN K. ELLEGOOD of Desoto, Missouri, was sentenced to three years of probation, a $2,000 fine and ordered to pay restitution of $3,567. She pled guilty to one count of making a false statement in an annual financial report Form 5500 of the Carpenters Health & Welfare Trust Fund by concealing the fact that Dr. Ellegood had not personally provided physician services to patients in the St. Louis metropolitan area, while he actually was out of the country on those dates.

RAJITHA GOLI, M.D., St. Louis, Missouri, pled guilty to making a false statement to an agent of the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Goli told the agent that she had never made home visits when Dr. Ellegood was not present and that Dr. Ellegood never asked her to make visits without him. Dr. Goli further admitted in her plea agreement that she was never employed by and did not provide services to Hanford Nuclear Services. Finally, Dr. Goli admitted in her plea agreement that payments that she received from Arogya were in no way related to any work done by her on behalf of Arogya. Her sentencing is scheduled for June 22, 2009.

HANFORD NUCLEAR SERVICES, INC., West Plains, Missouri, was sentenced to three years of probation and a fine of $50,000. The corporation pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering. In its plea agreement, the corporation admitted to concealing payments to Dr. Rajitha Goli for medical services that she provided to patients of Dr. Ellegood who were beneficiaries of the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Specifically, during 2004 and 2005, Hanford Nuclear Services filed two IRS Form 1009's showing a total of $83,435 that Hanford Nuclear Services had paid Dr. Goli after first receiving those funds from PHS, James Ellegood or Wynsleen Ellegood.

AROGYA, INC. of Durham, North Carolina, was sentenced to three years probation and a $50,000 fine after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy involving that corporation’s issuance of a false IRS Form 1099 to Dr. Rajitha Goli indicating that Arogya, Inc. had paid her approximately $74,208 for work done for that corporation during 2007.

Reap commended the work performed on the case by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General-Office of Investigations; U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General; and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of Missouri Attorney General’s Office.

UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI MICHAEL W. REAP Acting United States Attorney	NEWS RELEASE
For further information call (314) 539-2200
May 19, 2009 For Immediate Release DESOTO DOCTOR, HIS WIFE AND THREE COMPANIES ARE SENTENCED St. Louis, MO: James and Wynsleen Ellegood and three companies were all sentenced on felony charges involving conspiracy, making false statements regarding physician home visits that were not actually provided and money laundering, Acting United States Attorney Michael W. Reap announced today. Dr. James Harold Ellegood and his wife Wynsleen, a nurse, operated Missouri Physician Home Services, Inc. (PHS) from their home in Desoto, Missouri. Dr. Rajitha Goli of St. Louis provided medical services to patients of James Ellegood and PHS. Goli’s license to practice medicine in Missouri was revoked following her 2002 federal felony conviction for health care fraud in the District of Nebraska, making her ineligible to practice medicine in Missouri until at least 2010. As a result of the conviction, Goli was also excluded for 20 years from participation in Medicare and Medicaid as a provider and could not submit claims for services that she provided to Medicare and Medicaid patients after her exclusion. Hanford Nuclear Services, Inc., West Plains, Missouri is owned by Rengarajan Soundararajan, PhD, a chemist, who is the brother-in-law of Wynsleen Ellegood. Arogya, Inc., of Durham, North Carolina, is a medical consulting company owned and operated by Goli’s two brothers, who are also medical doctors. JAMES HAROLD ELLEGOOD of DeSoto, Missouri, and his corporation PHS both pled guilty today to one count of conspiracy to defraud a health care program. Dr. Ellegood was sentenced to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay $983,140 restitution. PHS was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay the same amount of restitution. In the plea agreements for Dr. Ellegood and PHS, Dr. Ellegood admitted that he knew that Dr. Goli was an excluded provider and that Medicare and Medicaid would no longer pay for her services. Nonetheless, Dr. Ellegood and PHS submitted numerous reimbursement claims for services provided by Dr. Goli that falsely represented that Dr. Ellegood had personally provided the services that Dr. Goli had actually provided. To conceal payments from PHS and Dr. Ellegood for the services Dr. Goli provided patients, Dr. Ellegood and PHS funneled her payments through two companies, Arogya and Hanford Nuclear Services. These two companies in turn made payments to Dr. Goli. In their plea agreements last February, Dr. Ellegood and PHS admitted that they had used his provider number to submit claims to Medicare falsely represented that he had provided services to patients when he was actually out of the country at the time of service, including trips to the Bahamas and Mexico. WYNSLEEN K. ELLEGOOD of Desoto, Missouri, was sentenced to three years of probation, a $2,000 fine and ordered to pay restitution of $3,567. She pled guilty to one count of making a false statement in an annual financial report Form 5500 of the Carpenters Health & Welfare Trust Fund by concealing the fact that Dr. Ellegood had not personally provided physician services to patients in the St. Louis metropolitan area, while he actually was out of the country on those dates. RAJITHA GOLI, M.D., St. Louis, Missouri, pled guilty to making a false statement to an agent of the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Goli told the agent that she had never made home visits when Dr. Ellegood was not present and that Dr. Ellegood never asked her to make visits without him. Dr. Goli further admitted in her plea agreement that she was never employed by and did not provide services to Hanford Nuclear Services. Finally, Dr. Goli admitted in her plea agreement that payments that she received from Arogya were in no way related to any work done by her on behalf of Arogya. Her sentencing is scheduled for June 22, 2009. HANFORD NUCLEAR SERVICES, INC., West Plains, Missouri, was sentenced to three years of probation and a fine of $50,000. The corporation pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering. In its plea agreement, the corporation admitted to concealing payments to Dr. Rajitha Goli for medical services that she provided to patients of Dr. Ellegood who were beneficiaries of the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Specifically, during 2004 and 2005, Hanford Nuclear Services filed two IRS Form 1009's showing a total of $83,435 that Hanford Nuclear Services had paid Dr. Goli after first receiving those funds from PHS, James Ellegood or Wynsleen Ellegood. AROGYA, INC. of Durham, North Carolina, was sentenced to three years probation and a $50,000 fine after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy involving that corporation’s issuance of a false IRS Form 1099 to Dr. Rajitha Goli indicating that Arogya, Inc. had paid her approximately $74,208 for work done for that corporation during 2007. Reap commended the work performed on the case by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General-Office of Investigations; U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General; and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of Missouri Attorney General’s Office.