Author Topic: Houston man convicted in $1 million adult diaper scam  (Read 2174 times)

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Offline NHSparky

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Houston man convicted in $1 million adult diaper scam
« on: April 06, 2010, 11:19:56 AM »
Houston man convicted in $1 million adult diaper scam

By DALE LEZON Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle
April 6, 2010, 6:58AM

LINK

(too short to excerpt)

The former co-owner of a Houston a durable medical equipment company has been convicted of bilking Medicare of nearly $1 million in a scheme involving adult diapers, federal authorities said.

Fred Jessie Cole Jr., 44, pleaded guilty to 14 counts of health care fraud connected to a scam to file fraudulent claims for incontinence supplies, such as diapers and briefs, federal authorities said late Monday.

Cole, who is free on bond, is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 11.

He faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release.

Federal officials said Cole, who was co-owner of Crusade Integrated Health Services, admitted to submitting fraudulent claims to the Texas Medicaid Program for incontinence supplies that were either not delivered to Medicaid beneficiaries, wanted by Medicaid beneficiaries or medically needed.

Between May 3, 2003, and Sept. 1, 2006, Cole submitted $1,068,387 worth of claims for diapers and briefs to Medicaid and was paid $937,567 for those claims, federal officials said.

Federal authorities said he admitted to submitting claims to Medicaid for the delivery of 1,338,466 units of diapers and briefs when he only purchased 314,571 units for delivery and to forging the signatures of Medicaid beneficiaries on delivery tickets to cover up the fact that he was billing Medicaid for more than he was providing.

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Does the defendant plead guilty, or not guilty?

Depends...

But seriously, did anyone here REALLY think Medicare fraud was just going to magically disappear with this "reform" of the system?
“Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the government take care of him better take a closer look at the American Indian.”  -Henry Ford

Offline The Village Idiot

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Re: Houston man convicted in $1 million adult diaper scam
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2010, 12:12:18 PM »
Cutting Medicare reimbursements will definitely make the fraud go down