According to law enforcement officials on Tuesday, a special strike force had made 90 arrests, with 16 of them are in the medical profession field, for their involvement in the Medicare fraud. The officials said that the arrested individuals allegedly issued false medical bills to patients for services the latter did not need, defrauding the healthcare program of $260 million. TIME said that the arrests were made in six different cities across the US.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said that most of the arrests made were in Miami, where 50 individuals have been charged with defrauding the healthcare system of strike force by billing patients of home health treatments, mental health services and prescription drugs. The said services were never dispensed, the FBI added.
Investigators also revealed that a Los Angeles-based physican had ordered hundreds of power wheelchairs to patients who do not even require them. The doctor was charged with defrauding $22 million off Medicare.
In a statement, Acting Assistant Attorney General David O'Neil said, "The fraud was rampant, it was brazen and it permeated every part of the Medicare system."
US Attorney General Eric Holder stated, "Medicare is a sacred compact with our nation's seniors, and to protect it, we must remain aggressive in combating fraud. This nationwide Medicare Strike Force takedown represents another important step forward in our ongoing fight to safeguard taxpayer resources and to ensure the integrity of essential health care programs. Department of Justice will not tolerate these activities. And we will continue working alongside the Department of Health and Human Services-as well as federal, state, and local partners-to use every appropriate tool and available resource to find, stop, and punish those who seek to take advantage of their fellow citizens."
TIME said that the string of arrests had marked the strike force's seventh sting operation since its establishment. The arrests made by the strike force team resulted to charges slapped against 1,900 defendants since 2007.
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