Detroit-area residents Carlos Grana and Dwight Armstrong pleaded guilty for their roles in a $2 million Medicare fraud scheme taking place between Feb. 2008 and Oct. 2009, according to a joint news release by the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services.
According to the plea documents, Mr. Grana managed the day-to-day operations of Careplus LLC, a medical clinic in Livonia, Mich. Mr. Grana admitted that while he managed Careplus, he paid patient recruiters for Medicare beneficiary referrals. He admitted he paid the recruiters between $100 and $150 per patient referral, and instructed the recruiters to pay the patients $50 from that amount. According to court documents, nearly all of the patients treated at Careplus were secured through the payment of kickbacks.
Mr. Grana also admitted that in exchange for the payments, he and his co-conspirators expected the Medicare beneficiaries who received kickbacks to subject themselves to a medical examination and to medically unnecessary tests. Mr. Grana told the recruiters to instruct the patients to feign certain symptoms when they arrived at Careplus, which ultimately led to the patients' medical records containing information about false symptoms. The falsified records then helped Careplus deceive Medicare about the legitimacy and medical necessity of the tests it performed, according to the release.
Mr. Armstrong was one of the patient recruiters for Careplus, according to plea documents. Mr. Armstrong admitted that beginning in approximately June 2008 he began recruiting patients for the owners and/or operators of Careplus and that he paid kickbacks to the Medicare beneficiaries he recruited and later transported to Careplus using money provided by the owners/operators. He admitted he kept part of the funds he received as a kickback for referring the Medicare beneficiaries he recruited.
The two are scheduled to be sentenced in July.
Read the DOJ/HHS release on Carlos Grana and Dwight Armstrong.
According to the plea documents, Mr. Grana managed the day-to-day operations of Careplus LLC, a medical clinic in Livonia, Mich. Mr. Grana admitted that while he managed Careplus, he paid patient recruiters for Medicare beneficiary referrals. He admitted he paid the recruiters between $100 and $150 per patient referral, and instructed the recruiters to pay the patients $50 from that amount. According to court documents, nearly all of the patients treated at Careplus were secured through the payment of kickbacks.
Mr. Grana also admitted that in exchange for the payments, he and his co-conspirators expected the Medicare beneficiaries who received kickbacks to subject themselves to a medical examination and to medically unnecessary tests. Mr. Grana told the recruiters to instruct the patients to feign certain symptoms when they arrived at Careplus, which ultimately led to the patients' medical records containing information about false symptoms. The falsified records then helped Careplus deceive Medicare about the legitimacy and medical necessity of the tests it performed, according to the release.
Mr. Armstrong was one of the patient recruiters for Careplus, according to plea documents. Mr. Armstrong admitted that beginning in approximately June 2008 he began recruiting patients for the owners and/or operators of Careplus and that he paid kickbacks to the Medicare beneficiaries he recruited and later transported to Careplus using money provided by the owners/operators. He admitted he kept part of the funds he received as a kickback for referring the Medicare beneficiaries he recruited.
The two are scheduled to be sentenced in July.
Read the DOJ/HHS release on Carlos Grana and Dwight Armstrong.