Conspirator Behind Bars: Ex-Bowling Green Doc Charged with Conspiracy and Fraud
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A former physician in Warren County, Kentucky, has been taken off the streets after a 14-count indictment was unsealed charging him with conspiracy to distribute and dispense controlled substances, health care fraud, and money laundering.
Charles Fred Gott, age 63, was arrested this morning in Nashville, Tennessee, and appeared before Magistrate Judge H. Brent Brennenstuhl in Bowling Green.
According to the indictment, the alleged criminal activity took place between 2006 and September 19, 2013, in Warren County, Kentucky. Gott is charged with conspiring with others to knowingly and intentionally distribute and dispense Schedule II, III, and IV controlled substances.
The indictment includes nine counts of unlawfully dispensing Methadone and Fentanyl, Schedule II controlled substances, and one count of unlawfully dispensing Hydrocodone, a Schedule III controlled substance.
Gott is also accused of executing a scheme to falsely and fraudulently bill various health care benefit programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, by submitting claims for office visits at a higher code than the service actually provided to patients under his care.
The former physician allegedly directed staff members to provide medically unnecessary spirometry tests to patients and falsely billed various health care benefit programs for these tests.
Gott is further charged with one count of money laundering for transferring $14,000 to a Merrill Lynch investment account, which was allegedly derived from unlawful activity.
If convicted, Gott faces up to 20 years in prison per count for counts 1-10, up to 10 years in prison per count for counts 11-14, no less than 3 years of supervised release, and a $12,000,000 fine.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Mac Shannon, Lettricea Jefferson-Webb, and Joseph Ansari. The case is being investigated by the DEA, HHS-OIG, Warren County Drug Task Force, Kentucky State Police, Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Division, and the FBI.
Key Facts
- State: Kentucky
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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