Medicare Fraud Max Sentence

64 year-old George Dalyn Houser of Georgia was sentenced in Federal Court to 20 years in prison for Medicare fraud.  Houser and his wife operated three nursing homes and used them to fraudulently bill Medicare and Medicaid for “worthless services.”

Houser will serve his 20-year sentence followed by 3 years of supervised release.  He will also have to pay $6,742,808 in restitution to the Medicare and Medicaid programs.  Additionally, he must pay $872,515 in restitution to the IRS for failing to pay payroll taxes and personal income taxes.

Houser bought real estate, luxury vehicles, vacations, and planned to build a hotel – all while the residents in his nursing homes allegedly starved and lived in unacceptable conditions.

The nursing homes allegedly suffered from food shortages bordering on starvation, leaking roofs, no nursing or housekeeping supplies, poor sanitary conditions, major staff shortages, and safety concerns.

“Senior citizens in nursing homes are some of our most vulnerable citizens.  Houser stole millions in taxpayer dollars while the residents entrusted to his care went without food or medicine.  Now he’ll spend 20 years in prison,” said US Attorney Sally Quillan Yates.

The Office of the Inspector General is committed to aggressively investigating and prosecuting these taxpayer-funded, worthless service cases.

Medicare and Medicaid fraud are serious offenses and those that commit them face harsh prosecutions and severe penalties or jail time.  Having quality legal advice is imperative when defending such allegations.

The experienced fraud team at Fausone Bohn, LLP – Mark Mandell, Tariq Hafeez, and Breeda O’Leary – can provide a top-notch legal defense for those involved in a government investigation or prosecution.  The team can also provide counsel for “whistleblowers” looking to expose the fraud of their employers (or ex-employers).  Whistleblowers may be eligible to receive money from a settlement or verdict and this knowledgeable team has the expertise to obtain these positive results.

To learn more or read the original article, please visit:

http://www.examiner.com/article/rome-nursing-home-owner-receives-maximum-sentence-for-health-care-fraud

Busted! Another Medicare Crook Gets Taken Down

27 year old Alejandro Haber was busy running a Detroit-area health clinic.  But that’s not all he was running.

Haber was also running a multi-million dollar Medicare fraud scheme.

Haber conceived and oversaw his fraud schemes at a clinic he operated called Ritecare, LLC.  Along with his co-conspirators, he obtained patients by paying illegal kickbacks to recruiters and directly to Medicare recipients. 

Haber instructed these patients to feign certain symptoms.  These fake symptoms were used to create false and fraudulent medical records.  The conspirators then billed Medicare for medically unnecessary services such as expensive nerve conduction studies.

From 2007 to 2009, Haber submitted approximately $7.42 million in fraudulent claims through Ritecare to the Medicare program for reimbursement.  Out of this amount, Medicare actually paid $5.33 million to Ritecare.

Haber has since pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.  He was sentenced to serve 40 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.  Additionally, he must pay restitution of $5,333,906 – the amount he fraudulently received.  $99,000 has already been seized from his bank accounts – although this hardly makes a dent in the amount he owes.

Medicare fraud must run in the family – Alejandro’s father was also sentenced in July to 60 months in prison for his role in an $8.5 million Medicare fraud scheme.

To learn more or to read the original press release, please visit:

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/July/12-crm-932.html