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Press Release
SAVANNAH, GA: More than a dozen defendants, including 10 physicians and other medical professionals, have been charged for their alleged participation in a massive healthcare fraud scheme responsible for – in the Southern District of Georgia alone – more than $400 million in losses to Medicare.
The charges against 19 defendants in the Southern District of Georgia were announced Sept. 27 as part of a nationwide Department of Justice operation into a scheme that involved trafficking orders and prescriptions for genetic testing, orthotic braces and pain creams. The charges were part of Operation Double Helix, which focused on fraudulent billing of genetic testing, and the charges announced today involve tens of millions of dollars billed to Medicare and generating more than $7 million in fraudulent genetic testing charges to the Georgia Medicaid Program, said Bobby L. Christine, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.
The healthcare fraud scheme charged is the largest in the history of the Southern District of Georgia. The Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries whose identities were used as part of the scheme are located throughout the Southern District of Georgia, including the Augusta, Brunswick, Dublin, Savannah, Statesboro, and Waycross Divisions, as well as elsewhere in the United States.
“The scope and sophistication of the health care fraud detected in Operation Double Helix and the related Operation Brace Yourself is nearly unprecedented. But the citizens of the Southern District of Georgia should know that we put together an unprecedented response,” said U.S. Attorney Christine. “Our office charged more defendants, responsible for more health care fraud losses, than ever before in this office’s history. While these charges might be some of the first, they won’t be the last.”
The charges filed in the Southern District of Georgia were part of a nationwide operation, unveiled today by the U.S. Department of Justice, into individuals and entities that trafficked in patient information and prescriptions for genetic testing, orthotic braces, and pain creams. Nationwide, the DOJ announced charges against 35 defendants connected with the scheme, which is estimated to have resulted in more than $1.7 billion in fraudulent billing to the Medicare Program.
“These defendants allegedly duped Medicare beneficiaries into signing up for unnecessary genetic tests, costing Medicare billions of dollars,” Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Together with our law enforcement partners, the Department will continue to protect the public fisc and prosecute those who steal our taxpayer dollars.”
As part of this national enforcement action, U.S. Attorney Christine announced the following actions in the Southern District of Georgia:
Others charged in the Southern District of Georgia in the investigation included:
Indictments or criminal informations contain only charges; defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
“Through the dedicated work of U.S. Attorney Christine’s office, the FBI, HHS-OIG and our Medicaid Fraud Division, those who attempt to bilk government programs will be held accountable,” said Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr. “We are proud of this collaborative effort to stop the architects and implementers of these sophisticated healthcare schemes in their tracks.”
“The FBI and its Savannah Resident Agency are proud to have participated in this nationwide effort to help protect the much-needed federal funds that Medicare provides,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “When providers are driven by greed and abuse the Medicare program, every taxpaying citizen is a victim, especially those who use the federal funds for their health care needs. Improper billing inflates costs, and the FBI and its law enforcement partners are determined to hold those who do it accountable.”
“Being a healthcare professional in the Medicare program is a privilege, not a right. When physicians and other healthcare providers put their own financial gain above patient well-being and honest billing of government health programs, they violate the basic trust that taxpayers extend to healthcare professionals,” said Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson, with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. “These charges put corrupt medical professionals on alert that law enforcement will do everything possible to root out all forms of waste, fraud and abuse in our federal health care programs.”
“This type of corruption involving health care fraud against Medicare and Medicaid has managed to defraud American taxpayers of millions upon millions of dollars,” said Resident Agent in Charge Glen M. Kessler of the U.S. Secret Service. “The U.S. Secret Service is always willing to take prompt and coordinated actions to hold these telemarketers and medical professionals responsible for placing personal greed above the good of the public.”
This investigation is ongoing. Any doctors or medical professionals who have been involved with alleged fraudulent telemedicine and medical equipment marketing schemes should report this conduct to the FBI hotline at 1-800-CALL-FBI. Any beneficiaries who believe their identity may have been used fraudulently also should contact the FBI hotline.
U.S. Attorney Christine acclaimed the hard work of the investigatory team, led by the FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the United States Secret Service and the office of the Attorney General of Georgia.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Thomas Clarkson and Jonathan A. Porter are prosecuting these cases on behalf of the United States, and Assistant Attorney General James P. Mooney is prosecuting cases on behalf of the Georgia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Barry L. Paschal, Public Affairs Officer (Contractor): 912-652-4422