Seven individuals have been indicted in Colorado for their involvement in a scheme to defraud Medicare and Medicaid through a bribery scheme at a laboratory. The indictment alleges that the defendants used kickbacks and other illegal incentives to recruit Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries to submit unnecessary lab tests, which were then billed to the government programs.
The seven defendants facing charges include the owner of the laboratory, two medical marketers, and four individuals who recruited beneficiaries for the scheme. The indictment claims that the defendants paid kickbacks to the recruiters in exchange for referring beneficiaries to the lab for unnecessary testing. In some cases, the defendants allegedly falsified medical records to make it appear as though the tests were necessary.
The scheme is said to have cost Medicare and Medicaid millions of dollars in fraudulent claims over a period of several years. The defendants are facing charges of healthcare fraud, conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, and violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute. If convicted, they could face significant fines and prison time.
This case is just the latest in a series of crackdowns on healthcare fraud in Colorado and across the country. The Department of Justice and other agencies have been ramping up efforts to combat fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid, which cost taxpayers billions of dollars each year. This indictment serves as a warning to those who seek to defraud government healthcare programs for personal gain.
The investigation into this scheme was a collaborative effort between the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. Prosecutors are expected to aggressively pursue the case and seek justice for the taxpayers who were defrauded.
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