Jury Convicts Podiatrist, Psychologist, and Pharmacist in Health Care Fraud Case

A podiatrist, a psychologist, and a pharmacist were convicted today in federal court in Detroit, Michigan, for health care fraud and controlled substance distribution, United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade announced today.
McQuade was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Robert L. Corso, Drug Enforcement Administration, Detroit Division; Special Agent in Charge Robert D. Foley, III, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Lamont Pugh, III, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).
United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade stated, “Law enforcement investigators in metro-Detroit are aggressively investigating health care fraud and detecting abuses by doctors and pharmacists. We hope that prosecutions like this one will deter medical professionals from stealing taxpayer funds intended for health care.”
Convicted were podiatrist Anmy Tran, 42, of Clinton Township, psychologist Sanyani Edwards, 34, of Southfield, and pharmacist Mitesh Patel, 39, of Troy. Defendants Tran and Edwards were convicted on all three of the counts with which they were charged, specifically, conspiracies to commit health care fraud, to distribute controlled substances, and to pay or receive health care kickbacks. Defendant Patel was convicted of six of the seven counts with which he was charged, specifically, health care fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, and two substantive counts each of health care fraud and controlled substances distribution.
Defendant Mitesh Patel was acquitted of conspiracy to pay or receive health care kickbacks.
The evidence presented during the three-week trial demonstrated that, from approximately January 2006 through August 2011, Canton Pharmacist Babubhai Patel owned and controlled over 20 pharmacies (termed “the Patel Pharmacies” at trial), which operated in and around Detroit, Michigan. The evidence also showed that Babubhai Patel’s model for turning a profit at his pharmacies was based upon large-scale health care fraud and the diversion of controlled substances. Babubhai Patel paid cash kickbacks and other things of value to physicians in exchange for those physicians writing prescriptions for expensive medications, without regard to medical necessity, that could be billed to Medicare, Medicaid, or a private insurer through one of the Patel Pharmacies. Physicians affiliated with Babubhai Patel would also write prescriptions for controlled substances for their patients, again regardless of medical necessity, which would then be filled at one of the Patel Pharmacies. These controlled substances were distributed to patients and patient recruiters as a kickback in exchange for the patients using a Patel Pharmacy. Pharmacists at the Patel Pharmacies would increase the pharmacies’ profits by billing insurers for medications never actually distributed to patients.
The evidence presented at trial showed that defendant Anmy Tran was one of the physicians to whom Babubhai Patel paid bribes and kickbacks in exchange for referrals of prescriptions. In exchange, Tran wrote numerous prescriptions for expensive medications, without regard to medical necessity, that could be filled at one of the Patel Pharmacies. Evidence presented at trial demonstrated that defendant Mitesh Patel, a pharmacist in Babubhai Patel’s organization, billed Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers for expensive medications he never dispensed to patients. With respect to Sanyani Edwards, the evidence presented at trial showed that he offered and paid bribes and kickbacks to doctors, nurses, and assisted living facility owners in exchange for referrals of prescriptions to the Patel Pharmacies. Edwards also worked with a corrupt psychiatrist to write fictitious prescriptions for patients, which could then be billed at a Patel Pharmacy.
Defendants Tran, Edwards, and Mitesh Patel were three of 26 individuals who were charged in August 2011 with offenses relating to their involvement with Babubhai Patel’s pharmacy network. All 26 of the original defendants have now been convicted of felonies arising out of their involvement with Babubhai Patel; 17 of those defendants entered guilty pleas, and nine, including the three defendants today, have been convicted after trial. Defendant Babubhai Patel was convicted at a trial in August 2012; he is serving a 17-year prison sentence. A superseding indictment charging 13 additional individuals was unsealed in March 2013; those defendants’ cases remain pending, with a trial date set for January 2014.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John K. Neal and Wayne F. Pratt.

American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine Event for Students

The American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine would like to cordially invite students to FootFest2013 at the American Podiatric Medical Association's Annual Scientific Meeting in Las, Vegas, NV. Taking place on Tuesday, July 23 from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm at the Congress Center and Sands Expo of the Venetian Hotel, located at 201 Sands Ave., FootFest2013 is an exciting day inside the world of podiatric medicine. Students will participate in a panel of current members of the podiatric medical community, spend the day attending lectures on cutting edge surgical techniques, and receive a free lunch as well as special giveaways and goodie bags. The entire program is completely free of charge and a limited number of spots are available. To register or for questions regarding this exciting event, please contact Daniel Taubman via email at dtaubman@aacpm.org or via phone at 301-948-0958.

Anahit Hovhannisyan and Health Guard Inc. Plead Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud Violations

Anahit Hovhannisyan, age 34, of Armenia, pled guilty on Monday, July 1, 2013, to health care fraud. Health Guard Inc., a Louisiana corporation that operated as a medical clinic, also plead guilty to a health care fraud conspiracy. The pleas were entered before U.S. District Court Judge Lance M. Africk, announced U.S. Attorney Dana Boente.
According to the second superseding indictment, the defendants participated in a criminal organization for the purpose of fraudulently billing Medicare and Medicaid. Patients went to Health Guard Inc. for medical tests that were not performed or medically necessary. Patients were moved between other commonly owned health care clinics to Health Guard Inc. to repeatedly perform the same unnecessary tests. Five other clinics and their owners have already been sentenced for the same activity. According to the second superseding indictment, if the patients refused the diagnostic tests at Health Guard Inc., prescriptions for narcotic drugs were withheld. Thereafter, bills for the unnecessary services were submitted to Medicare and Medicaid. Hovhannisyan was the owner of Health Guard Inc. and also an unlicensed and unqualified diagnostic technician, according to the indictment.
The second superseding indictment to which Hovhannisyan pled guilty carries a possible maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment. Sentencing has been scheduled for September 26, 2013.
The investigation was conducted by special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General, and the Louisiana Department of Justice-Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrice Harris Sullivan.

Los Angeles-Area Doctor and Patient Recruiter Plead Guilty to Participating in a Power Wheelchair Scheme That Defrauded Medicare of More Than $10.1 Million

WASHINGTON—A Los Angeles-area doctor and a patient recruiter pleaded guilty today for their roles in a power wheelchair fraud scheme that defrauded Medicare of over $10.1 million.
The plea was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr. of the Central District of California; Glenn R. Ferry, Special Agent in Charge for the Los Angeles Region of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); Steven Martinez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office; and Joseph Fendrick, Special Agent in Charge of the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse.
Dr. Emmanuel Ayodele, 65, of Los Angeles, and Alejandro Maciel, 43, of Huntington Park, California, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge George Wu in the Central District of California to one count of health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, respectively.
Ayodele admitted that he defrauded Medicare by participating in a power wheelchair fraud scheme with the operators of fraudulent durable medical equipment (DME) supply companies. According to court documents, DME suppliers provided Ayodele with patients recruited by street-level patient recruiters or “marketers,” who illegally solicited people with Medicare benefits for power wheelchairs and other DME that the people did not need. In court documents, Maciel admitted that he was one of these marketers.
Maciel admitted that he approached people at their homes, swap meets, grocery stores, and other locations and made various misrepresentations to the people about his true identity and Medicare. Maciel admitted that these misrepresentations allowed him to gain the trust of Medicare beneficiaries and convince them to provide him with their Medicare billing and personal information, which Maciel, Ayodele, and their co-conspirators used to defraud Medicare. Maciel also admitted that, through his misrepresentations, he convinced people to travel with him to fraudulent medical clinics and DME supply companies owned and operated by his co-conspirators. Ayodele admitted that he owned one of these fraudulent medical clinics, Beth Medical Clinic, which he operated in Los Angeles.
Ayodele admitted that, at Beth Medical, he wrote medically unnecessary prescriptions for power wheelchairs and DME. Ayodele admitted he knew that the DME supply companies used the medically unnecessary prescriptions and documents that he wrote to submit claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary power wheelchairs and DME. For example, Ayodele admitted that the operators of fraudulent DME supply company Bonfee Inc., who were indicted with Ayodele and Maciel on Medicare fraud charges, paid Ayodele to write a medically unnecessary power wheelchair prescription for one of Bonfee’s customers and then used that prescription to submit a false power wheelchair claim to Medicare that totaled over $6,000.
Maciel admitted that his profit from the scheme came in the form of illegal kickbacks paid to him for every person whose Medicare billing and personal information his co-conspirators successfully used to bill Medicare for power wheelchairs or other items of DME. According to court documents, once his co-conspirators successfully billed Medicare, Maciel delivered the power wheelchairs and other DME to the people whom he recruited. During these deliveries, Maciel observed that the people could walk and that they did not have a legitimate need for the wheelchairs and other DME.
As a result of their conduct, Ayodele and Maciel admitted that they and the owners and operators of Bonfee, Lutemi Medical Supplies, and other fraudulent DME companies submitted and caused to be submitted over $10,132,178 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare. Ayodele and Maciel admitted that Medicare paid Bonfee and the other DME supply companies over $5,388,754 on these false and fraudulent claims.
Two of Ayodele and Maciel’s co-defendants, Charles Agbu, a former pastor who owned Bonfee, and Dr. Juan Van Putten, have pleaded guilty to Medicare fraud charges and are scheduled for sentencing on August 15, 2013, and September 26, 2013, respectively. Ayodele and Maciel’s other co-defendants, Obiageli Agbu and Candalaria Estrada, are scheduled for trial on July 9, 2013.
The owner of Lutemi, Olufunke Fadojutimi, a registered nurse, was arrested on May 14, 2013, on Medicare fraud charges. Fadojutimi is scheduled for trial on October 22, 2013. Defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
At sentencing, scheduled for September 30, 2013, Ayodele and Maciel each face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Jonathan T. Baum, Alexander Porter, William Kanellis and Blanca Quintero of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The case is being investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG, and the California Department of Justice.
The case was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. The Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations are part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), a joint initiative announced in May 2009 between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,500 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

Los Angeles Medical Supply Company Owner Sentenced to Five Years in Prison in $8.4 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

WASHINGTON—The owner and operator of a durable medical equipment (DME) supply company was sentenced today to serve five years in prison in connection with a health care fraud scheme involving Latay Medical Services, a DME company based in Gardena, California.
The sentence was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California André Birotte, Jr.; Glenn R. Ferry, Special Agent in Charge for the Los Angeles Region of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); and Bill L. Lewis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.
Bolademi Adetola, 47, of Harbor City, California, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge George H. Wu in the Central District of California. In addition to her prison term, Adetola was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $4,555,198 in restitution.
On March 1, 2013, Adetola was convicted by a jury in federal court in Los Angeles of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and 12 counts of health care fraud. During trial, the evidence showed that Adetola, as the former owner and operator of Latay, fraudulently billed millions of dollars to Medicare for DME that was either never provided to its Medicare beneficiaries or was not medically necessary.
The trial evidence showed that between January 2005 and October 2009, Adetola paid cash kickbacks for fraudulent prescriptions for DME, such as power wheelchairs and hospital beds. The evidence at trial showed that a co-conspirator physician wrote prescriptions for power wheelchairs and other DME that the Medicare beneficiaries did not need and ultimately never used. The co-conspirator physician testified that Adetola paid him cash kickbacks for every fraudulent prescription that he wrote for the DME and that Adetola used his prescriptions to bill Medicare for the power wheelchairs and other DME. Several Medicare beneficiaries testified that they were lured to medical clinics with the promise of a free recliner sofa, only to receive power wheelchairs that they did not need and did not want. According to the testimony, the beneficiaries were unsuccessful in their attempts to reject delivery of the power wheelchairs from Adetola’s supply company.
In addition, the trial evidence showed that Adetola billed Medicare for DME supposedly provided and delivered to Medicare beneficiaries who were deceased at the time of service. One particular claim submitted by Adetola to Medicare showed that the Medicare beneficiary’s death preceded the date the Medicare beneficiary supposedly signed for the service.
As a result of this fraud scheme, Adetola submitted and caused the submission of over $8.4 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and received over $4.5 million on those claims.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Benton Curtis and Trial Attorney Blanca Quintero of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The case is being investigated by the FBI and the Los Angeles Region of HHS-OIG.
The case was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. The Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations are part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), a joint initiative announced in May 2009 between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,500 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

Chemistry Placement Exam Information For Incoming Students

If you have questions or concerns regarding the Chemistry Placement Exam please check out the information in the following link or contact the Chemistry Department with your specific concerns:
http://chem.virginia.edu/undergraduate-studies/general-chemistry-options/
Thank you!

SOPHAS Virtual Fair on July 10-11

CEPH-Accredited schools and programs of public health would like to invite students to attend a SOPHAS Virtual Fair on July 10-11.  Participants will have the opportunity to chat with admissions officers and program chairs from over 30 schools of public health and public health programs in real-time and review materials about specific degree programs. See below for a list of participating schools and programs as of June 28, 2013.  

Registration for students is open at http://sophas.careereco.net and participation is free!   If you would like to attend as well, you do not need to register in advance.  You can simply drop by and participate in one of our chat sessions.

Boston University School of Public Health
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine MPH Program
Drexel University School of Public Health
East Tennessee State University College of Public Health
Emory University Rollins School of Public Health
Georgia State University Institute of Public Health
Graduate Program in Public Health at the Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Harvard School of Public Health
New York University Global Institute of Public Health
Stony Brook University Graduate Program in Public Health
Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health
The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Sciences
The Ohio State University College of Public Health
Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
University at Buffalo SUNY School of Public Health and Health Professions
University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health
University of California, Los Angeles Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health
University of Georgia College of Public Health
University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health
University of Iowa College of Public Health
University of Kentucky College of Public Health
University of Miami Graduate Programs in Public Health
University of Michigan School of Public Health
University of Minnesota School of Public Health
University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health
University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health
University of Oklahoma College of Public Health
University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
University of South Florida College of Public Health
University of Texas School of Public Health
Vanderbilt University Institute for Medicine and Public Health
Washington University in Saint Louis MPH Program
Yale School of Public Health