TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—LawFuel.com – Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Department of Justice, the United States Department of Health and Human Services and additional federal enforcement agencies today announced the largest Medicare and Medicaid fraud takedown in United States history. As part of the take down, authorities arrested a hundred South Florida residents for participating in various schemes to defraud Medicare and Medicaid out of
more than $200 million.
“With this historic fraud takedown we are sending the message to anyone scheming to steal from our Medicaid and Medicare programs that we will find them and they will be held accountable. Thanks to the joint efforts of my Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and our federal partners, this takedown has prevented millions of dollars in potential future fraud and will ensure those responsible are held to account.”
The charges in Florida are part of a nationwide takedown by Medicare fraud strike force operations in 36 federal districts that resulted in charges against more than 300 individuals, including 61 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals, for alleged participation in Medicare fraud scheme involving approximately $900 million in false billings. Attorney General Bondi’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit conducted three separate investigations with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The MFCU investigated two of these cases as part of the Heath Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team Task Force. The combined total loss to the Medicaid and Medicare programs, as a result of these cases, is more than $30 million. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida is prosecuting all three cases.
To learn more about HEAT, visit StopMedicareFraud.gov.
For more information on the cases involved in the national Medicare fraud takedown, click here. Related court documents and information may be found here.
The Florida Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigates and prosecutes providers that intentionally defraud the state’s Medicaid program through fraudulent billing practices. Medicaid fraud essentially steals from Florida’s taxpayers. From Jan. 2011 to the present, Attorney General Bondi’s MFCU has obtained more than $500 million in settlements and judgments. Additionally, the MFCU investigates allegations of patient abuse, neglect, and exploitation in facilities receiving payments under the Medicaid program.
