Miami Therapists Sentenced for $63 Million Scheme
The FBI recently announced that a Miami doctor and several therapists involved in the Health Care Solutions Network scam have been sentenced to lengthy federal prison terms.
Dr. Roger Rousseau received 192 months as a guest of the Bureau of Prisons, as did therapist Liliana Marks. Therapists Doris Crabtree and Angela Salafia were each sentenced to 60 months in prison. All faced a two-week trial for their involvement in the HCSN mental health care fraud scandal, which took place in Miami and North Carolina.
The FBI investigated HCSN’s practices after several fraud indicators were triggered by the company’s intensive mental health care services. It was found that not only did the staff perform and bill for countless medically unnecessary procedures, but they also paid kickbacks to assisted living facilities in exchange for patient referrals. This scheme also involved falsifying documents and creating fake medical records. All of this was done with the purpose of submitting millions in dollars of bills to Medicare. In total, the investigators found HSCN submitted $63.7 million in false claims to Medicare and was paid over $28 million for those claims.
This is not the first time mental health doctors and therapists have been accused and tried for health care fraud. Typically, the most common form of fraud in this profession that one hears in the news has been related to prescription drugs. For example a registered nurse in Boca Raton was recently arrested for charges of trafficking Oxycodone. However, as mental health care becomes an increasingly integral part of long-term care and post-surgical care, the incidents of mental health-related fraud is rising. As an example, a Miami nurse was recently charged with conspiracy to defraud and receive health care kickbacks.
This, of course, has grabbed the attention of federal investigators, especially in the state of Florida. The case involving the HCSN was brought forth as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in the federal prosecutor’s Florida office. The FBI and the Department of Health & Human Services, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida, investigated the case.
The Southern Florida division of the Medicare Strike Force is one of the most active and continues to target Florida professionals of various medical backgrounds with allegations of health care fraud. It is imperative that medical and mental health care professionals stay alert and prepared as the smallest discrepancies can garner the attention from investigators.
If you think you need a lawyer, you do. CALL NOW!
Are you looking for a skilled attorney who can help defend you against healthcare fraud charges? Please contact Attorney Tony Moss at the Tony Moss Firm, L.L.C. to discuss these or any other white-collar defense matters. He has locations in Miami and Fort Lauderdale and is prepared to put his 28 years of criminal experience to work for you.
