Gregory Benny Lassiter, Medicaid Fraud, North Carolina 2013

Medicaid Fraud Lands North Carolina Man in Prison

A Charlotte man has been sentenced to two years in prison for attempting to obtain nearly $400,000 in fraudulent reimbursement claims from North Carolina Medicaid. Gregory Benny Lassiter, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud in August 2012.

Lassiter was the owner of VisionOne Health Services, Inc., a Charlotte-based company approved by Medicaid to provide outpatient behavioral health services. However, Lassiter misappropriated a Medicaid provider number belonging to Dr. M.T. and submitted false claims to Medicaid, falsely stating that Dr. M.T. had provided services to clients long after Dr. M.T. had terminated her relationship with Lassiter and VisionOne.

These false and fraudulent claims were submitted to Medicaid between November 2009 and April 2011 and resulted in Medicaid payments to Lassiter exceeding $191,000. Lassiter also admitted to submitting false claims to Medicaid for services that his company never provided, in exchange for keeping 30% of the Medicaid reimbursement for the false claims.

Co-conspirator Erika Holland was sentenced to 54 months in prison for her role in the scheme and was ordered to pay $1,585,093 in restitution. Lassiter was ordered to pay $234,787.91 in restitution as part of his sentence.

U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins praised the work of the Health Care Fraud Task Force in investigating and prosecuting the case. The investigation was handled by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General and the North Carolina Medicaid Investigations Division.

Lassiter will be ordered to report to a federal facility, at which time he will be transferred into the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdnc/pr/owner-charlotte-behavioral-health-company-sentenced-two-years-prison-400000-medicaid