[00:00.0 - 00:04.4] On Friday, November 2, a federal jury found a patient recruiter guilty for her role in [00:04.4 - 00:10.1] a scheme involving approximately $1.1 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for home health [00:10.1 - 00:14.3] care that were procured through the payment of kickbacks. [00:14.3 - 00:19.4] Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benskowski of the Justice Department's Criminal Division.
[00:19.4 - 00:24.4] U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider of the Eastern District of Michigan. [00:24.4 - 00:29.2] Special Agent in Charge Timothy Slater of the FBI's Detroit Division.
[00:29.2 - 00:34.1] Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [00:34.1 - 00:40.5] Office of Inspector Generals, HHS-OIG, Chicago Regional Office. [00:40.5 - 00:47.0] And Special Agent in Charge Manny Muriel of the IRS Criminal Investigation, IRS-CI Detroit [00:47.0 - 00:49.5] Office made the announcement.
[00:49.5 - 00:55.2] Sophia Eggleston, 56, of Detroit, Michigan, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to [00:55.2 - 01:00.5] receive health care kickbacks and two counts of receipt of health care kickbacks following [01:00.5 - 01:02.7] a three-day trial. [01:02.7 - 01:08.7] Sentencing has been scheduled for Feb. 6, 2019, before U.S.
District Judge Bernard Friedman [01:08.7 - 01:13.2] of the Eastern District of Michigan, who presided over the trial. [01:13.2 - 01:18.9] According to evidence presented at trial from 2009 to 2012, Eggleston and her co-conspirators [01:18.9 - 01:26.1] engaged in an illegal kickback scheme to defraud Medicare of approximately $1.1 million [01:26.1 - 01:28.9] through fraudulent home health claims. [01:28.9 - 01:33.5] The evidence showed that Eggleston solicited and received kickbacks in exchange for referring [01:33.5 - 01:40.3] Medicare beneficiaries to serve as patients at a home health agency owned by her co-conspirators.
[01:40.3 - 01:44.5] Eggleston's co-conspirators then submitted claims to Medicare for home health services [01:44.5 - 01:47.7] that were purportedly provided to those beneficiaries. [01:47.7 - 01:52.9] The FBI, HHS-OIG, and IRS-CI investigated the case. [01:52.9 - 01:57.5] Trial attorneys Steven Sincotta and Howard Locker of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section [01:57.5 - 01:59.4] are prosecuting the case.
[01:59.4 - 02:04.2] The Fraud Section leads the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which is part of a joint initiative [02:04.2 - 02:09.1] between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter [02:09.1 - 02:13.8] fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country. [02:13.8 - 02:20.1] Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 14 strike [02:20.1 - 02:26.3] forces operating in 23 districts, has charged nearly 4,000 defendants who have collectively [02:26.3 - 02:29.5] billed the Medicare program for more than $14 billion. [02:29.5 - 02:35.5] Source OIG HHS-GOV Provided by AccessCloud Sync, HIPAA, Compliant [02:35.5 - 02:39.8] Cloud Storage Solution www.accesscloudsync.com
