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“$2.4 Million Medicare Scam Lands Houston Woman Behind Bars”
A Houston woman has been sentenced to 97 months in prison for her role in a $2.4 million Medicare fraud scheme.
Gwendolyn Climmons-Johnson, 54, was found guilty by a federal jury in Houston, Texas, on Oct. 30, 2013, of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of health care fraud.
The evidence presented at trial showed that Climmons-Johnson, the owner and operator of Urgent Response EMS, a Texas-based entity, conspired to enrich herself by submitting false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for ambulance services that were medically unnecessary and/or not provided.
The evidence showed that from January 2010 through December 2011, Climmons-Johnson and others conspired to submit approximately $2.4 million in fraudulent ambulance service claims to Medicare.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas, Special Agent in Charge Carlos J. Barron of the FBI’s Houston Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Mike Fields of the Dallas Regional Office of HHS’s Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) made the announcement.
In addition to the prison sentence, Climmons-Johnson was also sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $972,132 in restitution.
The case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG, and Texas MFCU and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
The Medicare Fraud Strike Force has charged nearly 1,900 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $6 billion since its inception in March 2007.
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Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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