Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury in Maryland has indicted Ron Elfenbein, M.D., age 47, of Arnold, Maryland, for three counts of healthcare fraud for submitting false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and other insurers for patients who received COVID-19 tests at sites operated by the defendant. The indictment was returned yesterday.
The indictment alleges that Ron Elfenbein took advantage of a national health crisis to line his own pockets, said United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron. Our office has and will continue to investigate and prosecute fraud by anyone who used the COVID-19 pandemic to defraud individuals or the government.
The Department of Justice today announced the criminal charges against Elfenbein and 17 other defendants in nine federal districts across the United States for their alleged participation in various fraud schemes involving health care services that exploited the COVID-19 pandemic and resulted in over $149 million in COVID-19 related false billings to federal programs and theft from pandemic assistance programs. In connection with the enforcement action, the department seized over $8 million in cash and other fraud proceeds.
The Maryland indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Maureen Dixon for the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dillard of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service – Mid-Atlantic Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Thomas Sobocinski for the FBI Baltimore Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Amy K. Parker for the Office of Personnel Management, Office of Inspector General (OPM-OIG).
According to the Maryland indictment, Elfenbein owned and operated Drs ERgent Care, LLC, d/b/a First Call Medical Center and Chesapeake ERgent Care. Drs ERgent care operated drive-through COVID-19 testing sites in Anne Arundel and Prince George’s Counties. The indictment alleges that Elfenbein instructed the employees of Drs ERgent Care that, in addition to billing for the COVID-19 test, the employees were to bill for moderately complex office visits, lasting between 30 and 39 minutes for existing patients and between 45 and 59 minutes for new patients, even though Elfenbein knew that the patients had not received the office visits.
The indictment alleges that Elfenbein’s actions resulted in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and other insurers for patients who received COVID-19 tests at sites operated by the defendant. The indictment charges Elfenbein with three counts of healthcare fraud.
Today’s announcement by the Department of Justice builds on the success of the May 2021 COVID-19 Enforcement Action and involves the prosecution of various COVID-19 health care fraud schemes. Multiple defendants offered COVID-19 testing to induce patients to provide their personal identifying information and a saliva or blood sample. The defendants are alleged to have then misused the information and samples to submit claims to Medicare for unrelated, medically unnecessary, and far more expensive tests or services.
Related Federal Cases
- Christine Rahl, Healthcare Fraud and Money Laundering, Social Circl… · Georgia
- John Q. A. Webb, Jr., Healthcare Fraud, Beaumont TX, 2023 · Texas
- Eijroghene Okuma, $10M Investment Fraud, Atlanta GA, 2023 · Puerto Rico
- Ruben Alonso Hernandez-Lainez, Second-Degree Rape and Second-Degree Assault, Maryland 2023 · Texas
- Unidentified Banker Charged with $5M Fraud Scheme, USA, 2023 · Alabama
Key Facts
- State: Maryland
- Category: White Collar Crime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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