HHS, DOJ Announce Medicare Fraud Strike Force Arrests and Expansion of Program
February 11th, 2010
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer announced December 15 the expansion of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force to Brooklyn, Tampa, and Baton Rouge.
The expansion marks the fifth, sixth, and seventh phases of a targeted criminal, civil, and administrative effort against individuals and healthcare companies that fraudulently bill the Medicare program, the agencies said in a press release.
The joint Department of Justice (DOJ)-HHS Medicare Fraud Strike Force is a multi-agency team designed to combat Medicare fraud through the use of Medicare data analysis techniques and an increased focus on community policing, the release said.
Since the inception of Strike Force operations in Miami (Phase One), Los Angeles (Phase Two), Detroit (Phase Three), Houston (Phase Four), and Brooklyn (Phase Five), the Strike Force has obtained indictments for more than 460 individuals and organizations that together have falsely billed the Medicare program for over $1 billion dollars, according to the release.
Sebelius and Breuer also announced that 30 people have been charged in three cities for their alleged roles in schemes to submit more than $61 million in false Medicare claims pursuant to Strike Force operations in Miami, Detroit, and Brooklyn.
The indicted individuals are accused of various Medicare fraud crimes, including conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program, conspiracy to launder money, money laundering, criminal false claims, making false statements, and receiving kickbacks, according to the agencies.
View the HHS/DOJ press release
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