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Fort Lauderdale-area Halfway House Owners Plead Guilty to Kickback Scheme
Robert Jenkins, 36, and his wife Nikki Jenkins, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to solicit and receive health care kickbacks in a Medicare fraud kickback scheme.
The couple, who were the managers and operators of Life 4 Life Inc., operated several halfway houses in Fort Lauderdale. According to court documents, they agreed to refer Medicare beneficiaries who resided at Life 4 Life halfway houses to American Therapeutic Corporation (ATC) for partial hospitalization program (PHP) services.
ATC purported to operate PHPs in seven different locations throughout south Florida and Orlando. The Jenkins admitted that they recruited Medicare beneficiaries for their halfway houses whom they could refer to ATC in exchange for health care kickbacks.
The Jenkins knew that ATC would bill the Medicare program for PHP services provided to the beneficiaries they referred to ATC, and they knew receiving such kickbacks was illegal. The ineligible beneficiaries attended treatment programs that were not legitimate so that ATC and its related company, the American Sleep Institute (ASI), could bill Medicare more than $200 million in medically unnecessary services.
The plea agreement stated that the Jenkins’s participation in the fraud resulted in more than $157,980 in fraudulent payments from the Medicare program. At sentencing, scheduled for December 19, 2011, Robert and Nikki Jenkins each face a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Robert Jenkins and his wife Nikki Jenkins, who are married, were the managers and operators of Life 4 Life Inc., which operated several halfway houses in Fort Lauderdale. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Steven Kim and Jennifer L. Saulino of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in nine locations have charged more than 1,140 defendants that collectively have billed the Medicare program for more than $2.9 billion.
Defendant: Robert Jenkins
Criminal Charges: Conspiracy to solicit and receive health care kickbacks
City and State: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Date: December 19, 2011
Sentence: Maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine
Fraudulent Payments: $157,980
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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