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$63 Million Medicare Scam: Miami Woman Pleads Guilty
A Miami-area resident, Sarah Da Silva Keller, 27, has pleaded guilty to participating in a health care fraud scheme that resulted in the submission of more than $63 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid.
According to an indictment unsealed on May 2, 2012, Keller admitted to participating in a scheme orchestrated by the owner and operators of Health Care Solutions Network (HCSN), which operated purported partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) for severe mental illness.
Keller admitted to falsifying records at the direction of others so that HCSN could bill Medicare for patients who did not receive the services from HCSN. She knew that the falsification of these records was part of a plan for HCSN to commit health care fraud.
The scheme involved paying kickbacks to owners and operators of assisted living facilities in exchange for referring Medicare beneficiaries to HCSN for PHP treatment that was unnecessary and, in many instances, not provided.
At sentencing, scheduled for Oct. 17, 2012, Keller faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.
Keller is the ninth defendant charged in connection with the scheme to plead guilty. The owner and operators of HCSN, including nine other charged defendants, await trial before U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga.
The case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG, and Medicaid Fraud Control Unit 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 Florida.
The Medicare Fraud Strike Force has charged more than 1,330 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $4 billion since its inception in March 2007.
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: White Collar Crime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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