National Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action Results in Charges Involving over $1.4 Billion in Alleged Losses

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Texas, Sept. 17, 2021

Cases Include Four Defendants Charged in the Eastern District of Texas and Alleged Losses of over $2.9 Million

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice announced today criminal charges against 138 defendants, including 42 doctors, nurses, and other licensed medical professionals, in 31 federal districts across the United States for their alleged participation in various healthcare fraud schemes that resulted in approximately $1.4 billion in alleged losses.

The enforcement action includes criminal charges against four defendants in the Eastern District of Texas involving telemedicine, alleging over $2.9 million in losses.

Nationwide, the charges target approximately $1.1 billion in fraud committed using telemedicine (the use of telecommunications technology to provide health care services remotely), $29 million in COVID-19 health care fraud, $133 million connected to substance abuse treatment facilities, or “sober homes,” and $160 million connected to other health care fraud and illegal opioid distribution schemes across the country.

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