Rick E. Brown, Health Care Fraud, Illinois 2013
Rick E. Brown Arrested in $12 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme
A Rockford, Ill., man was arrested today in connection with an alleged $12 million health care fraud scheme.
According to the indictment, Rick E. Brown, 56, and two other individuals allegedly participated in a Medicare fraud scheme operating out of a home visiting physician practice, Medicall Physicians Group Ltd., in Schaumburg, Ill.
Brown and an alleged co-conspirator, Roger A. Lucero, 62, of Elmhurst, Ill., are charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and health care fraud.
The charges of health care fraud conspiracy and health care fraud each carry a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,500 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5 billion.
Brown, along with an alleged co-conspirator, Roger A. Lucero, and another defendant, Mary C. Talaga, 53, of Elmwood Park, Ill., are also charged with making false statements relating to health care matters.
The investigation is being conducted jointly by the FBI and HHS-OIG and 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 Northern District of Illinois.
Brown and Lucero allegedly instructed employees to bill Medicare for patient oversight and other services that were never provided, and created backdated records in an effort to conceal the fraudulent billings.
Talaga is alleged to have billed Medicare for these services even though she knew they had not been documented.
An indictment is merely a charge and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Medicare allegedly paid the company approximately $4.7 million for fraudulently reported services from January 2007 to December 2011.
Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: Health Care Fraud
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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