A former employee of medical services provider Kindred Home Health and a medical marketing business owner have been indicted in a prescription fraud scheme that netted the duo over $250,000 in kickbacks, according to a federal indictment unsealed in San Antonio today.
Amber Price, 37, a former employee of Kindred Home Health, and Christopher Cruz, 46, owner of CP Cruz Management Group, LLC, are charged with conspiracy to violate the federal anti-kickback law, soliciting and receiving illegal kickbacks, conspiracy to commit Health Care Fraud, and Health Care Fraud and aiding and abetting Health Care Fraud.
According to the indictment, from June 2014 to April 2019, Price created fraudulent prescriptions which were submitted for payment to federal health care benefit programs including Medicare, Medicaid, FEHBP, TRICARE and other private insurance companies.
The indictment alleges that Price and Cruz solicited and received monies from various pharmacies and laboratories to increase their volume of signed prescriptions, lab analysis and other billable procedures. Price used actual hospital patient information she obtained to create fraudulent prescription forms.
To facilitate her scheme, she allegedly forged physician’s signatures on prescription forms or used pre-signed or photo copied prescription forms. Price and Cruz accepted financial kickbacks paid by pharmacies on a per-prescription basis once they received payment from the insurance companies.
Charges of conspiracy to violate the federal anti-kickback law and soliciting and receiving illegal kickbacks call for up to five years in federal prison upon conviction. Charges related to Health Care Fraud call for up to ten years in federal prison upon conviction.
The indictment resulted from an investigation conducted by FBI special agents together with investigators from the Texas Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Department of Defense OIG – Defense Criminal Investigation Service, Health and Human Services OIG and the Office of Personnel Management OIG. Assistant United States Attorney Justin Chung is prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.
An indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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