JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CRACKDOWN Nets Charges Against Nearly 200 IN $2.7 BILLION HEALTHCARE FRAUD SCHEMES

Nearly 200 people have been prosecuted in a countrywide crackdown on healthcare fraud schemes with bogus claims totaling $2.7 billion, the Justice Department announced on Thursday.

Attorney General Merrick Garland filed charges against doctors, nurse practitioners, and others around the United States for a variety of scams, including a $900 million scheme in Arizona that targeted dying patients.

“It does not matter if you are a trafficker in a drug cartel or a corporate executive or medical professional employed by a health care company,” Garland told reporters at the time. “If you profit from the unlawful distribution of controlled substances, you will be held accountable.”

In the Arizona case, authorities charged two wound care company owners with collecting more than $330 million in kickbacks as part of a plot to illegally bill Medicare for amniotic wound grafts, which are dressings used to help heal wounds. According to the Justice Department, nurse practitioners were pressured to administer wound grafts to elderly patients who did not require them, including those in hospice care. According to court documents, some individuals died the same day or within days of receiving the transplants.

Prosecutors alleged that in less than two years, more than $900 million in fraudulent claims were made to Medicare for grafts used on less than 500 patients.

Alexandra Gehrke and Jeffrey King, the proprietors of the wound care companies, were arrested this month at the Phoenix airport as they boarded a flight to London, according to court documents requesting a judge to keep them in custody while they await trial. Gehrke’s attorney declined to comment, and a lawyer representing King did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press.

Authorities believe Gehrke and King, who married this year, were aware of the impending allegations and had planned to run. According to court documents, officials discovered a book titled “How To Disappear: Erase Your Digital Footprint, Leave False Trails, and Vanish Without a Trace” in their residence. According to the papers, one of their luggage packed for their journey had a book titled “Criminal Law Handbook: Know Your Rights, Survive The System.”

Prosecutors allege that Gehrke and King lived lavishly off the conspiracy, including luxury cars, a nearly $6 million mansion, and more than $520,000 in gold bars, coins, and jewelry. Following Gehrke’s arrest, officials seized more than $52 million from her personal and company bank accounts, according to authorities.

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In total, 193 persons, including 76 doctors, nurse practitioners, and other licensed medical professionals, were accused in a succession of separate cases brought over nearly two weeks in the nationwide healthcare fraud sweep. Authorities seized about $230 million in cash, expensive vehicles, and other valuables. The Justice Department conducts these large-scale healthcare fraud investigations regularly to deter future wrongdoing.

Another fraud targeting Native Americans involved the establishment of bogus sober living homes that promised addiction treatment. Claims were then submitted for services that were never provided, according to officials.

Another case involves a Florida-based plan to market misbranded HIV medications. Prosecutors allege that pharmaceuticals were purchased on the illegal market and resold to unwary pharmacies, which subsequently distributed the pills to patients.

Some patients were given bottles containing different medicines than the label indicated. According to prosecutors, one patient became unconscious for 24 hours after taking what he thought was HIV treatment but was an antipsychotic prescription.