Monroe county chiropractor arrested on money laundering and Medicaid fraud charges

Published: 2007-11-23 19:54:17
Author: www.helpstopfraud.org - Friday, August 4, 2006

A Monroe County Chiropractor was arrested Thursday on money laundering and Medicaid fraud charges in connection with an ongoing investigation into the illegal prescription of painkillers in the  Wilkes-Barre area, Attorney General Tom Corbett said Thursday.

The chiropractor was arrested as part of a 2005 investigation know as "Operation Easy Writer," which earlier resulted in the arrest of  Wilkes-Barre a physician.

The chiropractor and the physician shared a joint medical and chiropractic business know as All Care Pain & Rehab, with offices at 576 Union St., Luzerne Shopping Center, Luzerne, Luzerne County; 651 Wyoming Ave., Kingston, Luzerne County, and included a satellite office in Mount Pocono.

Corbett said a review of bill records for All Care Pain & Rehab identified numerous instances in which medical assistance was billed for physical therapy to patients who said they had not been seen by a doctor, or not visited the clinic or not received therapy on the dates indicated on the bills.

The charges state that, in many cases, the 'physical therapy' was not supervised by either a doctor of licensed physical therapist, as required by medical assistance guidelines.  In some cases, the 'therapy' simply involved the patients visiting an exercise area of the All Care clinic.

The chiropractor was charged with one count of filing false or fraudulent Medicaid claims; one count of billing Medicaid for services not rendered; one count of misrepresenting the description of Medicaid services provided and three counts of criminal attempt to commit Medicaid fraud.  Each of those charges is a third-degree felony punishable by up to seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

He also is charged with four counts of dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activity (money laundering), a first-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $100,000 fine and $10,000 in civil penalties per offense, Corbett said.

The physician, who was arrested in the initial portion of the investigation, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of criminal attempt to commit Medicaid Fraud and violations of the state's drug law. He was sentenced in January to 3-10 years in state prison.

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