Conspirators Plead Guilty to Defrauding Columbia Health Care Providers

Contact Person: Winston Holliday (803) 929-3000

Columbia, South Carolina ---- Acting United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Timothy Weldon Arthur, age 39, of Columbia, and Danielle Nicole Burroughs, age 35, of Duncan, entered guilty pleas in federal court in Columbia on Wednesday to Conspiracy, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349.  United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis of Columbia accepted the guilty pleas and will sentence them at a later date.  Gary Lee Joiner, age 56, of Columbia, pled guilty to the same offense on September 29, 2016.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that Joiner was the Director of Orthopedic Services for Moore Orthopedic Clinic between 2006 and 2015.  In 2010, when Moore Orthopedic merged with Providence Hospital, Joiner established a fake durable medical equipment (DME) company, Creative Casting Concepts (CCC).  He then proceeded to submit false invoices to Moore and Providence, representing that CCC was providing orthopedic boots, when they were not.  Burroughs was recruited by Joiner to put her name on CCC in order to keep Moore Orthopedic from learning of Joiner’s connection.  She helped manage a bank account and post office box and received approximately $191,000 in compensation over five years.  Arthur took Joiner’s position at Moore Orthopedic in January 2015, when Joiner retired.  Arthur agreed to continue to submit fake invoices.  He received approximately $24,000 in compensation before the scheme was discovered in June 2015.  Overall, Joiner submitted $2.8 million in bogus invoices between 2011 and 2015.

Ms. Drake stated the maximum penalty for Conspiracy is imprisonment for twenty years and/or a fine of $250,000.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Assistant United States Attorney Winston David Holliday, Jr. of the Columbia office is prosecuting the case.

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