Patient Recruiter Found Guilty in $1.3 Million Medicare Kickback Scheme
A federal jury in Detroit, Michigan found a patient recruiter guilty today {Tuesday, July 30} for his role in a scheme involving approximately $1.3 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for home health care that were procured through the payment of kickbacks.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider of the Eastern District of Michigan, Special Agent in Charge Timothy Slater of the FBI’s Detroit Division and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Chicago Regional Office made the announcement.
Following a six-day trial, Dominic Trumbo, 45, of Lexington, Kentucky, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks and three counts of receipt of health care kickbacks. Sentencing has been scheduled for Dec. 3, 2019 before Chief U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood of the Eastern District of Michigan, who presided over the trial.
According to evidence presented at trial, from 2009 to 2017, Trumbo, owner of Trumbo Consulting Agency, engaged in an illegal kickback scheme to defraud Medicare of approximately $1.3 million through fraudulent home health claims. The evidence showed that Trumbo solicited and received kickbacks in exchange for referring Medicare beneficiaries to serve as patients at multiple home health agencies. These home health agencies then submitted claims to Medicare for home health services that were purportedly provided to those beneficiaries.
Read more: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/patient-recruiter-found-guilty-13-million-medicare-kickback-scheme
