Melvin Young, Medicare Fraud, Michigan 2010
A patient recruiter from the Detroit area has been sentenced to 40 months in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud the Medicare program.
Melvin Young, 57, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Duggan in the Eastern District of Michigan, and he will serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.
Young was also ordered to pay restitution, joint and several with co-defendants, in the amount of $533,643.
According to the plea documents, Young and a co-conspirator, Emma King, began recruiting and transporting patients to a clinic called Ritecare LLC in approximately September 2007.
The clinic, owned and operated by co-conspirators with locations in Detroit and Livonia, Mich., was the source of the funds used by Young to pay the Medicare beneficiaries he recruited.
Young admitted that he would keep part of these funds as a kickback, typically retaining $50-$75 of the $100-$150 provided by the owners of Ritecare per patient recruited.
The patients Young recruited had to subject themselves to medically unnecessary tests to receive the money, which was paid by Medicare.
The patients' medical records contained false symptoms allowing Ritecare to deceive Medicare as to the legitimacy and medical necessity of the tests it performed.
Young admitted that he and King were responsible for recruiting at least 269 patients to Ritecare, causing the submission of approximately $940,760 in false or fraudulent billings by the clinic.
Medicare paid approximately $533,643 on those claims, which Young and his co-defendants were ordered to repay as part of the restitution.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant Chief John K. Neal and Trial Attorney Gejaa T. Gobena of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section, and it was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG.
Key Facts
- State: Michigan
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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