Health Care Fraud - Two Texans Sentenced of Federal Prison - Comments by White Collar Crime Speaker Chuck Gallagher

You do reap what you sow. Lloyd McGriff, a Dallas, Texas area physician is currently serving a 16 month sentence for Medicare health care fraud. Now it looks like he’ll be joined by his co-conspirators - Udo Johnny, owner of Metropolitan Home Medical Equipment and Emmanuel “Bob” Edet owner of Medicare Supplies.

Johnny pled guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and pay illegal remunerations. In October, his co-defendant Edet pled guilty to the same offense. As part of their guilty pleas, Johnny and Edet admitted to conspiring with others to pay illegal kickbacks to Lloyd McGriff, M.D., a physician in Dallas.

Johnny and Edet admitted that from September 2002 through August 2003, they intentionally caused, and participated in the submission of fraudulent claims to Medicare for payment of power wheelchairs and accessories. Johnny and Edet admitted that they paid $200 for each Certificate of Medical Necessity (CMN) that Dr. McGriff provided to their companies. Dr. McGriff falsified each CMN to ensure that, if scrutinized, Medicare would allow payment for the medical equipment. Dr. McGriff executed 257 fraudulent CMN’s that allowed Johnny and Edet to bill the Medicare program for K0011 power wheelchairs and accessories. Over the 11- month period, Johnny and Edet submitted more than $1.7 million in claims to Medicare. Medicare paid both Johnny and Edet $904,946.62 based on the fraudulent CMNs and claims.

Sentenced to 37 months in federal prison and restitution of $458,541.67 - Johnny will have time to consider whether the crime and short term gain was worth the long term pain he will experience in prison. Likewise, Edet will have the same opportunity as he was sentenced to 30 months in prison and restitution of $446,404.95.

Every choice has a consequence. As a white collar crime and business ethics speaker, I speak from first hand experience about the truth about consequences. Reality is - no one escapes the consequences of their choices. While the these three avoided their consequences for a time - they did not avoid the consequences all together. Prison is no fun and will prove to be a dramatic change from their prior activities. You do reap what you sow.

White Collar Crime Speaker - Chuck Gallagher - signing off…