Navy Charity Scam

Jim Fausone
Veteran Advocate
 

A 67-year-old Harvard-trained lawyer and former military intelligence officer, John Donald Cody, is on trial in Cleveland after masterminding a $100 million multi-state fraud scheme. Cody was in court this Monday after two years on the run. He is charged with defrauding people who donated to the reputed United States Navy Veterans Association, based in Tampa, FL.

During his scheme, Cody used his many political connections to encourage donations to the charity. However, according to authorities, little to none of the money collected by Cody was actually used to aid Navy Veterans. In fact, most of the money collected went to republican politicians, including Mitt Romney, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and former President George W. Bush.

Joseph Patituce, Cody’s defense attorney, hinted at a defense strategy focused on CIA and government secrets involving a secretive operation decades ago in Arizona. Brad Tammaro, an assistant attorney general who is handling the trial, said that even if “by some fantasy” there was government involvement, it did not vindicate the defendant of his actions.

People ask all the time to which veteran charities they should donate.  I tell them to be careful.  You have to know the person asking and the work being done.

To learn more or to see the original article, please visit:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/30/man-accused-in-100m-navy-charity-scam-headed-to-trial/

Detroit Man Pleads Guilty to $29.1 Fraudulent Medicare Fraud Scheme

Mark J. Mandell, Esq.

For five years, Sachin Sharma of Detroit, 37, oversaw and directed the operations of a broad network of home health, psychotherapy, and medical clinics. As the ringleader of the operation, Sharma – with the help of many – fraudulently billed Medicare for $29.1 million in medically unnecessary claims. Now, Sharma has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of tax evasion this month.

Apart from the fraudulent kickbacks, Sharma also trained others in techniques used to both defraud the system as well as conceal the fraud. By directing employees to fabricate and alter medical documents, the broad network of home health, psychotherapy, and medical clinics involved gave the impression that medical services were provided.

As a result of the scheme, Sharma admitted to receiving substantial proceeds of the fraud from these companies, however, he failed to report these proceeds on his individual federal income tax returns. Moreover, Sharma failed to file tax returns from 2007 to 2011.

At sentencing, Sharma faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Several of Sharma’s co-defendants have already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud for their roles in the scheme, and one remains a fugitive.

To learn more about Michigan’s drunk driving laws, or if you yourself have been charged, please visit: www.michiganfraudlawyer.com or contact Mark Mandell or Tariq Hafeez at (248) 380-9976.

To read the original article, please visit: http://www.fbi.gov/detroit/press-releases/2013/leader-of-29.1-million-medicare-fraud-scheme-pleads-guilty-in-detroit

Prescription Drug Fraud in Livonia

Mark Mandell, Esq.

 

A Livonia doctor and five accomplices were charged last week with running a prescription pain pill fraud scheme.

The indictment alleges that the scheme involved recruiters who would bring patients to Dr. Mohammad Batahney’s office for a “cursory examination or no examination at all.”  Allegedly, the doctor would then write a prescription for Roxicodone, a highly addictive pain pill, and give it to the recruiter. 

The indictment states that the recruiter would then pay the doctor and get the prescriptions filled at a cooperating pharmacy.  After being filled, the recruiter is alleged to have sold the drugs to street dealers in Detroit.

Dr. Batahney is believed to have unlawfully prescribed more than 300,000 doses of Roxicodone from 2011 to April 2013. 

Dr. Batahney and the other five defendants have been charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances – a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

With prescription drug fraud rising to epidemic levels, Federal prosecutions have dramatically increased.  The crimes charged are severe and the sentences are long.  Having knowledgeable and experienced counsel on your side is a necessity.

If you or someone you know has been charged with fraud, or are concerned that you may be involved in fraudulent behavior, contact experienced fraud attorney Mark Mandell at (248) 380-0000 or online at www.MichiganFraudLawyer.com. 

To read about this latest indictment, please visit:

http://www.freep.com/article/20130422/NEWS02/304220150/Pills-prescription-fraud-Livonia-doctor

Health Care Fraud Indictments

Tariq Hafeez, Esq.

Thirteen individuals from the metro Detroit area have been charged in a large-scale health care fraud and drug distribution scheme, United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade announced today.

The superseding indictment, adds 13 new defendants and new charges to a 2011 indictment, which charged Canton Pharmacist Babubhai ‘Bob” Patel with overseeing a massive health care fraud and drug distribution ring at more than 20 pharmacies that he owned and controlled in metro Detroit.

The 21-count superseding indictment charges with prescription fraud involving 26 Michigan pharmacies. The indictment alleges that the defendants participated in a scheme whereby the owners/controllers of the pharmacies provided kickbacks, bribes, and other illegal benefits to physicians to induce those physicians to write prescriptions for patients with Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance. The prescriptions be presented to one of the defendants’ pharmacies for billing. In exchange for their kickbacks and inducements, the physicians would write prescriptions for the patients and bill the relevant insurers for services supposedly provided to the patients without regard to the medical necessity of those prescriptions and services. The physicians would direct the patients to fill their prescriptions at one of the defendant owned pharmacies, where defendants would bill insurers, including Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers, for dispensing the medications, despite the fact that the medications were medically unnecessary and, in many cases, never provided. Patients were recruited into the scheme by patient recruiters or “marketers,” who would pay kickbacks and bribes to patients in exchange for the patients’ permitting the defendants’ pharmacies and the defendant physicians to bill their insurance for medications and services that were medically unnecessary and/or never provided.

The indictment further alleges a conspiracy to distribute controlled substances at the defendants’  pharmacies to facilitate the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers. According to the indictment, defendants paid physicians kickbacks for prescriptions for controlled substances for their patients and directed those patients to fill the prescriptions at defendants owned/controlled pharmacies. The controlled substances included the Schedule II drug oxycodone (Oxycontin), the Schedule III drug hydrocodone (Vicodin, Lortab), the Schedule IV drug alprazolam (Xanax), and the Schedule V drug cough syrup with codeine. According to the indictment, prescriptions for these drugs were written outside the course of legitimate medical practice. 

This most recent indictment falls in line with the federal government’s increased investigation and prosecution of health care fraud across the country.  In May 2009, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) created the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), making the fight against health care fraud a Cabinet-level position. The Heat task force is focused on nine cities including Detroit.

If you have questions about health care fraud or other legal issues, please contact Mark Mandell or Tariq Hafeez at 248.380.0000 or online at www.MichiganFraudLawyer.com.

 

Store Owner Sentenced in Food Stamp Fraud

Mark Mandell, Esq.

 

The Bridge Card is debit-card like device in use today that electronically tracks food stamp benefits for those in need at the hand of taxpayer dollars. For Noha Fofana and Akhir McFarland, however, the bridge card represented an opportunity to pull in revenue at the Mandingo African Market.

 

Fofana and others at the Mandingo African Market would obtain card numbers and call them into the store, where they would be manually entered into the system allowing for the transference of benefits from the card to the store’s bank account. U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade says that Fofana, the owner of Mandingo African Market, pulled in more than $750,000 in food stamp benefits from February 2009 to July 2011. State officials have calculated Mandingo’s average food stamp redemption amount - $26,798 per month – which stands in stark contrast to other convenience stores in the area that only redeem approximately $5,479.

 

As a result of the fraudulent scheme, Fofana was sentenced to four years, three months in prison. Moreover, U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith ordered Fofana to pay $612,980.96 in restitution to the USDA-Food and Nutrition Service.

 

“We hope that other merchants will become aware of prosecution like this one and be deterred from engaging in similar fraud schemes,” McQuade said.

 

If you have any questions about criminal or fraudulent activity, contact Mark Mandell or Tariq Hafeez of Fausone Bohn, LLP at (248) 380-0000.

 

To learn more and read the original article, please visit: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/01/12/store-owner-sentenced-in-612000-food-stamp-fraud/

Alleged $22 Million Home Health Care Fraud Scheme

Tariq Hafeez, Esq.

Detroit-area and Chicago-area residents were arrested on Thursday, January 18, 2013 by federal agents on charges arising from the ongoing investigation into an alleged $22 million home health care fraud scheme. The indictment was announced by the US Attorney’s Office, the FBI Detroit Field Office, and the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).

The 18-count indictment names seven individuals who allegedly participated in a Medicare fraud scheme operating out of four Oakland County, Michigan, home health agencies claiming to provide in-home health services. Defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, and money laundering allegedly defrauding Medicare/Medicaid of $22 million.

 

The charges of health care fraud conspiracy and health care fraud each carry a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charge of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $25,000 fine. The charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

Fausone Bohn LLP attorneys have provided aggressive legal defense counsel to individuals and companies charged with federal health care fraud the firm has been retained by one of the defendants in the above matter.

If you have questions about Medicare or Medicaid fraud, or other legal issues, please contact Mark Mandell or Tariq Hafeez at 248.380.0000 or online at www.MichiganFraudLawyer.com.