Veterans Affairs - OIG

Ohio Man Found Guilty of Threatening a Federal Employee

Lon R. Sweeney of Cleveland, Ohio, was found guilty of threatening a federal employee and acquitted of assault of an officer. On July 12, 2017, Sweeney left a voicemail message threatening bodily harm to a VA employee after VA had begun the process of assigning a fiduciary to manage Sweeney’s monetary VA benefits. During the same voicemail, Sweeney also threatened bodily harm against an employee of the VA OIG, Criminal Investigations Division, who had previously warned Sweeney about making threats to VA employees. Sweeney is scheduled to be sentenced on April 12, 2022.

DC Woman Indicted for Scheme to Steal More than $400,000 in Government Benefit Funds

Rosemary Ogbenna of Washington, DC, was named in a 35-count indictment for allegedly carrying out a scheme to steal more than $400,000 in government benefit funds provided by the Social Security Administration (SSA) and VA. According to the indictment, Ogbenna operated a rooming house business and perpetrated the scheme to target some of her tenants. She obtained and maintained control over SSA and VA benefit funds intended for the care of elderly, mentally ill, disabled, and veteran beneficiaries, and used the funds for her own personal use and benefit.

Two Florida Men Charged with Healthcare Fraud

Thomas Farese of Delray Beach, Florida, and Domenic J. Gatto Jr. of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, were charged in connection with a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud several healthcare benefit programs, including Medicare, TRICARE, and CHAMPVA. The scheme involved offering, paying, soliciting, and receiving kickbacks and bribes in exchange for doctors’ orders for durable medical equipment without regard to medical necessity, namely orthotic braces. The companies owned by Farese and Gatto subsequently fraudulently billed the healthcare benefit programs for the orders. Gatto and his conspirators entered a related kickback scheme involving prescriptions for compounded medications. The defendants caused losses to Medicare, TRICARE, and CHAMPVA of approximately $25 million. They were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, healthcare fraud, conspiracy to transact in criminal proceeds, transacting in criminal proceeds, and conspiracy to violate the federal Anti-Kickback Statute.

Former Registered Nurse Anesthetist at Ann Arbor VA Hospital Sentenced to Three Years’ Probation on Drug Charges

Former VA-certified registered nurse anesthetist, Elizabeth Prophitt of Saline, Michigan, was sentenced to three years’ probation for stealing controlled substances, including several opioids, from hospital-dispensing machines. Prophitt pleaded guilty to five counts of obtaining controlled substances by fraud, misrepresentation, or deceit. She used her position as a surgical nurse to steal more than 2,000 vials of Schedule II and Schedule IV controlled substances, which included fentanyl, hydromorphone, morphine, and midazolam. Prophitt would use protected patient information and falsify medical documents to obtain the controlled substances. Instead of using the medication on patients, she diverted the drugs for her own personal use.

Two VA Employees in Chicago Charged for Pocketing Cash from Vendors

Two Chicago-based VA employees were charged in connection with a fraud scheme that involved pocketing cash payments from vendors in exchange for steering orders for medical equipment to those vendors. Andrew Lee is charged with one count of wire fraud, while Kimberly Dyson is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and four counts of bribery. Lee and Dyson worked as prosthetic clerks in the VHA Prosthetics Service in Chicago, where part of their duties was to select vendors to order medical equipment for VA patients using government purchase cards. The charges allege that Lee and Dyson schemed with coconspirators who owned or operated medical supply and distribution companies, in some cases placing orders for unnecessary and more costly monthly rentals of medical equipment, rather than purchasing the equipment as VA physicians had ordered. The scheme fraudulently caused the VA to overpay one company by more than $1.38 million from 2016 to 2020. Lee and Dyson pocketed kickbacks of at least $220,000 and $39,850, respectively.

Five Men Guilty of Stealing VA, Social Security Benefits

Five out of seven conspirators were convicted for their roles in a scheme to defraud the VA and the Social Security Administration of more than $1.8 million. A Florida jury found Omar Shaquille Bailey and Ronaldo Garfield Green guilty following an eight-day trial, while a third codefendant, Jamare Mason, pleaded guilty on the second day of trial. Two other codefendants, Kadeem Gordon and Mario Ricketts, had pleaded guilty prior to trial, while two remaining codefendants have yet to be apprehended. The members of this conspiracy obtained the personally identifiable information of disabled veterans and Social Security beneficiaries and used this information to fraudulently open bank accounts and prepaid debit cards. They also forged documents in the victims’ names that directed the VA and the Social Security Administration to deposit benefit payments into those fraudulent accounts. The defendants and their coconspirators withdrew these funds from ATMs and banks throughout South Florida and Georgia for their own personal use. Much of the funds were ultimately funneled to the architects of the scheme in Jamaica. The five guilty defendants are awaiting sentencing.

Former VA Employee Sentenced to Ten Months for Assault

Tiffany Lewis, a former employee of the VA medical center in Memphis, Tennessee, was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for assaulting two VA police officers. On November 20, 2020, VA Police responded to the scene of a disturbance on VA property. Officers observed Lewis striking another individual. VA Police attempted to detain her, but she resisted arrest and struck the arresting officer. After being escorted to a holding room on VA property, Lewis punched another officer in the face. She pleaded guilty on August 2, 2021, to two counts of assaulting federal officers.

Former VA Pharmacy Chief Pleaded Guilty to Violating Drug Laws

Matthew Camera of Erie, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to violating federal drug laws. From January 2017 to June 2020, while employed as the pharmacy chief at the VA medical center in Erie, he unlawfully obtained multiple dosage units of hydrocodone and oxycodone from pill bottles awaiting delivery to VA patients. Sentencing is scheduled for March 22, 2022.

Three Men Guilty in $50 Million Healthcare Fraud and Kickback Scheme

Nicholas Defonte and Christopher Cirri, both of Toms River, New Jersey, and Pat Truglia of Parkland, Florida, each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. Each defendant played a role in defrauding healthcare benefits by offering, paying, soliciting, and receiving kickbacks and bribes in exchange for completed doctors’ orders for durable medical equipment, specifically orthotic braces. The defendants then fraudulently billed Medicare, TRICARE, the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA), and other healthcare benefit programs. Cirri, Defonte, and their conspirators owned and operated multiple call centers where they obtained prescriptions for compound medications and other medical products reimbursable by federal and private healthcare benefit programs. The defendants caused losses to Medicare, TRICARE, and CHAMPVA of approximately $50 million.

Twenty People Indicted on Charges in Connection with Fraudulent Physical Therapy Business in Pennsylvania

Twenty people, including the two founders of Hertel & Brown Physical & Aquatic Therapy and 18 of its employees, were indicted in Erie County, Pennsylvania, on charges of conspiracy to commit wire and healthcare fraud and healthcare fraud. According to the indictment, the defendants engaged in a multifaceted conspiracy from January 2007 to October 2021 that involved a range of fraudulent activities. These included allegedly using unlicensed technicians to provide therapy and then billing for the treatment as though licensed therapists had performed it, regularly billing for treatment using the name and credentials of physical therapists who were on vacation, recording and billing for time that exceeded the actual treatment time, among several other allegations.

Two Men Sentenced for Health Care Fraud

Michael Nolan, of Tampa, Florida, and Richard Epstein, of Aurora, Colorado, were sentenced for their roles in a conspiracy to defraud two federal health benefit programs, Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA). From October 2016 through April 2019, Epstein and Nolan ran a telemarketing company in Tampa called REMN Management LLC that targeted the elderly to generate thousands of medically unnecessary physicians’ orders for durable medical equipment and cancer genetic testing. Epstein and Nolan also created and operated Comprehensive Telcare LLC, a telemedicine company through which they illegally bribed physicians to sign the orders regardless of medical necessity. They then illegally sold the signed physicians’ orders to client-conspirators for use as support for false and fraudulent claims submitted to Medicare and CHAMPVA. The conspiracy resulted in the submission of at least $134 million in fraudulent claims and approximately $29 million in payments. Nolan was sentenced to six years and six months in federal prison, followed by three years’ supervised release, and was ordered to pay $2.1 million. Epstein was sentenced to five years and three months in federal prison, followed by three years’ supervised release, and was ordered to pay $3 million. The court also ordered Nolan, Epstein, and other conspirators to pay over $29 million in restitution.

Massachusetts Woman Pleads Guilty to Theft of Public Funds

Robin Calef, of Brockton, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of public funds. Calef shared a bank account with her sister, a veteran who was receiving monthly benefits from the VA. Her sister passed away in 2006 and Calef failed to report her death to the VA. Through September 2017, Calef stole approximately $102,289 in VA funds from the shared bank account. Sentencing is scheduled for March 1, 2022.

Former VA Employee Guilty of Stealing HIV Medication

Lisa Hoffman, a former pharmacy procurement technician at the East Orange VA Medical Center in New Jersey, pleaded guilty to theft of government property. From October 2015 to November 2019, Hoffman was responsible for ordering medication, including large quantities of HIV medication, for the center’s outpatient pharmacy. She stole approximately $10 million worth of HIV medication and sold it to Wagner Checonolasco of Lyndhurst, New Jersey. Hoffman is scheduled to be sentenced on March 9, 2022. Checonolasco previously pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 15, 2021.

Pennsylvania Man Sentenced for Mishandling Brother’s VA Funds

Andrew Ziacik, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to one day of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay a fine of $4,000. Between 2013 and 2017, Ziacik was an appointed federal fiduciary for his older brother, a service-disabled veteran. Ziacik was responsible for receiving his brother’s VA income and paying his brother’s debts. However, Ziacik admitted that he violated the terms of his fiduciary agreement by using the VA funds to purchase a Harley Davidson motorcycle, a diamond ring, and a GMC Sierra truck. As part of his sentence, Ziacik will pay restitution to his brother in the amount of $75,000.

Ohio Man Charged with Threatening VA Employee

Patrick J. Rose, of Mansfield, Ohio, was charged with one count of influencing a federal official by threat. On October 4, 2021, Rose had a medical appointment with a clinical pharmacy specialist at the Mansfield VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic. After the specialist decided to discontinue Rose’s prescription for Diazepam, Rose became upset and allegedly threatened to “shoot somebody” and then left the appointment. Allegedly, Rose called the clinic and left a voicemail message threatening to kill the specialist and her family two days later.

Thirteen Defendants Plead Guilty in $126 Million Compounding Fraud Scheme

Thirteen defendants, including three compounding pharmacy owners, three physicians, two pharmacists, and three patient recruiters, pleaded guilty to a years-long, multistate scheme to defraud the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs and TRICARE. The defendants submitted false and fraudulent claims to the OWCP and TRICARE for prescriptions for compounded and other drugs prescribed to injured federal workers and members of the armed forces. The defendants paid kickbacks to patient recruiters and to physicians to persuade them to prescribe the drugs. Medications were selected based on the amount of reimbursement and not on the patients’ needs. The drugs were then mailed to patients, even though the patients often never requested, wanted, or needed them. The defendants were indicted in June 2018 and are scheduled to be sentenced in February 2022.

Certified Nursing Assistant Sentenced for Elder Fraud

Tracy McNeil, of Raeford, North Carolina, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison and ordered to pay $90,003 in restitution for committing wire fraud involving an elderly veteran in her care. From February 2015 to February 2017, McNeil fraudulently obtained benefits from the VA and the Office of Personal Management by executing a power of attorney over a disabled veteran who served in the Army and worked for the US Postal Service. The investigation revealed that McNeill arranged for the victim, who had dementia, to move into her home in February 2015 and then directed the VA and OPM to deposit the veteran’s benefits into her bank account. Between April 2015 and December 2016, the VA deposited $11,151 and OPM deposited $61,318 into McNeil’s account. Further, OPM disbursed the veteran’s life insurance in the amount of $17,533 to McNeil. A financial analysis showed that most of the funds were spent on McNeill’s personal expenses, including rent, utilities, credit card payments, and personal purchases.

New York Contractor Agrees to Settle False Claims Act Violations

Strock Contracting, Inc., of Cheektowaga, New York, has agreed to enter into a consent judgement with the United States for $4.7 million to resolve claims that it violated the False Claims Act. The United States filed an action in federal court alleging that Strock Contracting profited financially after fraudulently obtaining federal contracts intended to benefit service-disabled veterans. The United States alleged the company, which was not owned or controlled by a veteran, recruited a service-disabled veteran to create a pass-through company, known as Veterans Enterprises Company, Inc. (VECO), which the Strock Contracting and its owner, Lee Strock, controlled. The company allegedly directed VECO to submit false certifications of eligibility to the government, which allowed them to obtain substantial profits on numerous federal contracts.

Maryland Army Veteran Facing Federal Charges for Falsely Claiming Paralysis

William Rich, of Windsor Mill, Maryland, was arrested for allegedly obtaining more than $1 million dollars in veterans and Social Security Administration disability benefits by falsely claiming that he was a paraplegic. Allegedly, Rich misrepresented his physical condition in VA disability compensation claims, in communications with the VA, and during medical examinations in pursuit of VA disability benefits. While serving in Iraq in 2005, Rich sustained injuries that resulted in the loss of use of both lower extremities. However, approximately six weeks after his injuries, he made substantial progress toward recovery and was no longer paralyzed. Later records show the VA rated him one hundred percent disabled following an examination in 2007, in which the examining physician noted that he did not have access to Rich’s complete claims file, and so did not review Rich’s medical history or observe the earlier report. In 2018, the VA OIG conducted an audit of certain claims and learned of conduct by Rich inconsistent with his purported condition. Over the next two years, VA OIG special agents conducted surveillance and observed Rich walking, going up and down stairs, entering and exiting vehicles, lifting, bending, and carrying items—all without visible limitation or assistance of a medical device, including a wheelchair.

Former Cleveland VA Medical Center Supervisor Sentenced for Theft and Kickback Scheme

William H. Precht, of Kent, Ohio, was sentenced to 37 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay $1.25 million in restitution after he pleaded guilty to theft of government property and participating in a bribery and kickback scheme. In October 2010, Precht registered a purported vendor, a company he actually controlled, as a small disadvantaged business and veteran-owned small business in the VA vendor system. He then used his VA purchase card and other employee cards to purchase over $1 million in alleged medical supplies from the vendor. In addition, from May 2015 through January 2019, he conspired with Robert A. Vitale, a medical sales representative for multiple companies that conducted business with the medical center, to devise a scheme in which Precht would receive kickbacks and other items of value in exchange for steering VA business and other monetary awards to Vitale.

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