Louisiana Doctor Pleads Guilty to Medicare Fraud Charges
A Hammond, Louisiana doctor has pleaded guilty to federal health care fraud charges for his role in a $56 million Medicare scheme.
Winston Murray, 62, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance of the Eastern District of Louisiana to all three counts against him, including one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and two counts of health care fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 12, 2015.
Murray admitted to operating a clinic in Hammond, Louisiana, from which he wrote home health care referrals for Medicare beneficiaries he knew were not confined to their homes. His referrals were used by home health companies Interlink Health Care Services Inc. (Interlink) and Lakeland Health Care Services Inc. (Lakeland), among others, to fraudulently bill Medicare for home health services supposedly rendered to hundreds of Medicare beneficiaries living in and around Hammond and New Orleans.
Medicare records reveal that Murray’s certifications were used by Interlink and Lakeland to bill Medicare for more than $2.2 million in home health services that were not medically needed or were not provided. From 2007 through 2014, these companies and other companies involved in this scheme submitted more than $56 million in claims to Medicare, a vast majority of which were fraudulent. Medicare paid approximately $50.7 million on these claims.
This case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG, and the Louisiana Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana. This case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys William Kanellis and Antonio Pozos and Assistant Chief Ben Curtis of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 2,100 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $6.5 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
For more information about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Team (HEAT), visit www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.
Key Facts
- State: Louisiana
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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