A Miami-area woman has pleaded guilty to participating in a massive Medicare fraud scheme that netted scammers more than $63 million in phony claims.
Sarah Da Silva Keller, 27, admitted to her role in the elaborate scam, which involved paying kickbacks to owners and operators of assisted living facilities in exchange for referring Medicare beneficiaries to Health Care Solutions Network (HCSN) for unnecessary mental health treatment.
Keller, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, admitted to falsifying records at the direction of others so that HCSN could bill Medicare for patients who did not receive the services from HCSN.
The scheme, which was orchestrated by the owner and operators of HCSN, resulted in the submission of more than $63 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Keller faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count at sentencing, scheduled for Oct. 17, 2012.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Steven Kim, William Parente and Allan Medina of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
The case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG and Medicaid Fraud Control Unit 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 their inception in March 2007, Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in nine locations have charged more than 1,330 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $4 billion.
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Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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