Fort Lauderdale, Florida - July 16, 2015 - (Newswire.com)
A fraud investigation led by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force resulted in charges against 243 individuals, including 46 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in Medicare fraud schemes involving almost $712 million in false billings in 17 districts across the nation. This coordinated take down is the largest in Strike Force history in terms of the number of defendants charged and the total amount of losses. Strike Force teams combine the work of the Department of Human Resources Office of Inspector General, the Department of Justice, Offices of the United States Attorneys, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, local law enforcement, and others.
More than 30 percent of the 243 individuals arrested in the nationwide take down by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force were from Florida. The arrests and charges were coordinated over the last few weeks and authorities claim the suspects in Florida took part in various schemes to defraud Medicare and Medicaid out of more than $262 million. Various fraud schemes were employed, including billing for equipment that wasn’t provided, charging for care that wasn’t medically necessary, and seeking reimbursement for services that weren’t rendered.
When facing Medicare fraud charges, the chance of serving jail time is always a possibility with strict federal sentencing guidelines. If convicted, a defendants face a possible maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States by paying and receiving health care kickbacks; five years in prison for payment and receipt of kickbacks in connection with a federal health care program; twenty years in prison for mail or wire fraud, ten years in prison for health care fraud; twenty years for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud; twenty years for money laundering or conspiracy to commit money laundering,; and two years in prison consecutive to any other term for aggravated identity theft.
If arrested for Medicare fraud, all defendants owe it to themselves to do two things, right away:
(1) Become educated. Before you speak to ANY lawyer about your case, doctors and healthcare providers need to be prepared.
(2) Hire a skilled and knowledgeable criminal defense lawyer with healthcare fraud experience. Robert Malove, practicing criminal defense attorney in Florida for over 30 years, says, “The biggest and most common mistake many people make is not hiring an attorney who is a criminal law expert. Hiring an attorney who is an expert in criminal law should be your number 1 priority. The actions you take today could affect you for the rest of your life.”
Criminal Defense Attorney, Robert David Malove, helps doctors and health care providers stay out of jail, keep their licenses and protect their assets when they get charged with Medicare fraud. Mr. Malove is co-author of White Collar Crime – Health Care Fraud. Mr. Malove has also written When the Feds Come Knocking – The Essential Guide to Fighting Federal Charges. Click here to download your copy for FREE.
Contact Info:
The Law Offices of Robert Malove
Suite 918 200 S. Andrews Avenue
Fort Lauderdale
Florida 33301
United States
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Original Source: Medicare Defense Attorney Offers New Book to Those Facing Federal Charges
