According to the plea documents, Mr. Lobato and several co-conspirators opened a Detroit-area clinic called Ritecare in Aug. 2007. Mr. Lobato admitted that, at the direction of co-conspirators, he paid patient recruiters who brought beneficiaries to Ritecare. He further admitted knowing that the patient recruiters would use a portion of that money to pay the patients kickbacks for agreeing to be seen at Ritecare and subjecting themselves to medically unnecessary tests. Mr. Lobato admitted that he also paid kickbacks directly to Medicare beneficiaries in exchange for the beneficiaries subjecting themselves to medically unnecessary tests.
Mr. Lobato admitted that he instructed patient recruiters and Medicare beneficiaries to claim they had symptoms justifying medically unnecessary tests, including costly nerve conduction studies, on numerous occasions. Consequently, the patients’ medical records contained false symptoms allowing Ritecare to deceive Medicare as to the legitimacy and medical necessity of the tests. The fraudulent claims submitted to Medicare totaled more than $7.4 million, of which approximately $5.3 million was paid out.
Mr. Lobato’s sentencing is scheduled for July 23. He faced up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for his role in the scheme.
Read the DOJ’s release on Hans Lobato.
