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Miami Hospital COO Pleads Guilty in $67 Million Scam
A former chief operating officer of a Miami-area hospital pleaded guilty to his role in a mental health care fraud scheme that resulted in the submission of over $67 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare. Christopher Gabel, 61, of Davie, Florida, admitted to supervising staff at both inpatient and outpatient facilities of Hollywood Pavilion LLC (HP) where Medicare beneficiaries were admitted without proper medical necessity.
According to Gabel’s admissions, HP obtained Medicare beneficiaries from across the country by paying bribes and kickbacks to patient brokers. The hospital then billed Medicare approximately $67 million for services that were not properly rendered, for patients that did not qualify for the services being billed, and for claims for patients who were procured through bribes and kickbacks.
Medicare reimbursed HP nearly $40 million for those claims. Gabel faces one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive health care kickbacks.
This case is the latest in a series of convictions and guilty pleas in the Medicare Fraud Strike Force. Since its inception in March 2007, the strike force has charged nearly 2,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $6 billion.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Gabel is scheduled to be sentenced on
To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Nicholas E. Surmacz, Andrew H. Warren and L. Rush Atkinson of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
RELATED: Miami Hospital COO Pleads Guilty in $67M Mental Health Fraud
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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