Metro chiropractor gets prison for fraud

Published: 2009-04-03 10:39:29
Author: Atlanta Business Chronicle, January 15, 2009

A Norcross, Ga., chiropractor was sentenced to prison late Wednesday for health-care fraud and possession with intent to distribute testosterone.

Stephen Catterton, 39, got three years and one month, must pay $1.3 million in restitution and must perform 300 hours of community service.

In 1998, Catterton opened two chiropractic clinics -- Catterton Chiropractic P.C. and Citadel Healthcare Group-- in Norcross. In 2006, the FBI began a criminal investigation into his activities for the submission of false claims to federal and private health insurance companies.

The FBI found that between June 2001 and December 2006, Catterton billed in excess of $3 million, and was paid in excess of $1.2 million from various health-care benefit programs for services he never performed or provided. In some instances, billing codes for more advanced procedures were used when patients really only received massages.

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