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Romy Macasaet Jr., Medicare Kickbacks, Illinois 2016
CHICAGO — The owner of a home health care company headquartered in Lemont admitted in federal court today that he paid illegal kickbacks to procure referrals of elderly patients on Medicare.
Romy Macasaet Jr., 47, of Homewood, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute. Macasaet acknowledged in a plea agreement that he retained and paid Medical Directors a monthly fee solely for the purpose of obtaining patient referrals, and not for medical services.
Between approximately December 2006 and September 2014, Macasaet paid $789,327 in bribe payments to approximately 20 medical directors, according to the plea agreement. As a result of the payments, Home Bound improperly sought and received Medicare reimbursements totaling several million dollars.
Macasaet and Home Bound also agreed to pay the United States $6.8 million to resolve civil false claim and anti-kickback allegations. The agreement settles claims that Home Bound and its subsidiaries violated the federal False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute by obtaining referrals through illegal kickbacks that served as financial inducements for false certifications of eligibility for home health services, and by improperly submitting those false claims to Medicare for reimbursement.
As part of the civil settlement, Macasaet agreed to immediately resign his employment with Home Bound and refrain from seeking future employment with the company. Macasaet further agreed to divest his ownership interest in Home Bound within 120 days of formal entry of the agreement.
The plea agreement and civil settlement were announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Lamont Pugh III, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General; and Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The government is represented in the criminal case by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sunil Harjani, and in the civil case by Assistant U.S. Attorney David R. Lidow. U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan set sentencing for Feb. 15, 2017, at 10:30 a.m.
Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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