Teresa Johnson, Healthcare Fraud, Florida 2019

Tampa, FL – In a shocking case of healthcare fraud, Teresa Johnson, a 53-year-old medical biller from Lecanto, has been sentenced to five years' probation for conspiring with a local doctor to commit healthcare fraud.

According to court documents, Johnson owned and operated a medical billing company, Tri-County Billing, which submitted mostly false and fraudulent claims for three clinics owned and operated by Doctor 1 (recently deceased).

The clinics were located in Crystal River, Spring Hill, and Celebration. Most of the false claims from Doctor 1's clinics were submitted to government healthcare programs including Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and CHAMPVA.

Johnson had previously worked for Doctor 1 in several different capacities before Doctor 1 financially assisted her in opening Tri-County Billing. Doctor 1 filed bankruptcy on behalf of his medical practice in April 2019.

As part of the scheme, Doctor 1 employed numerous healthcare providers, many who were not authorized to perform, and prohibited from, billing for medical services. Doctor 1 directed Johnson to bill claims performed by these prohibited healthcare providers as if they were rendered by Doctor 1, when they were not.

The court also ordered Johnson to pay restitution to the defrauded federal healthcare programs and entered a money judgment of more than $5,700, representing a portion of Johnson's healthcare fraud proceeds. Johnson had pleaded guilty on October 10, 2019.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, and the Florida Office of Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelley Howard-Allen.

Teresa Johnson, the defendant, will serve four months of home detention as part of her sentence. The court has also ordered her to pay restitution to the defrauded federal healthcare programs. Johnson had previously worked for Doctor 1 and had previously pleaded guilty on October 10, 2019.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/lecanto-medical-biller-sentenced-large-healthcare-fraud-scheme