A New York man has been convicted for his role in a $52 million healthcare fraud scheme involving a Brooklyn clinic that illegally distributed Suboxone, paid cash kickbacks to patients and billed Medicare and Medicaid for services never provided, the Justice Department said in a May 27 news release.
Tony Brown-Arkah owned American Medical Centers, which lured patients by illegally prescribing Suboxone and allowed a drug ring to operate inside and outside the clinic where dealers purchased patients’ prescriptions for cash. Many patients received prescriptions signed by a Florida-based nurse practitioner who never saw or spoke with them. Mr. Brown-Arkah, who was not a medical provider, also billed Medicare and Medicaid for office visits in which he was the only staff member to meet with patients, and paid illegal cash kickbacks to patients for referrals — conduct captured on undercover video. He also funneled patients to a laboratory in exchange for thousands of dollars monthly in kickbacks, concealing the payments through a shell company and sham contract.
Mr. Brown-Arkah was convicted on multiple counts of healthcare fraud, illegal narcotics distribution and kickbacks. A sentencing date has not been set.
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