The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has unsealed the indictments of nine pharmacists who were charged last week for their alleged participation in a $12.1 million health care fraud scheme executed in Michigan and Ohio.
Federal fraud charges were filed against the CEO, the COO, and accountant of a major finance company, Honor Finance, which specialized in auto loans for subprime borrowers. This announcement, brought by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and the FBI’s Special Agent in Charge for the Chicago office, consists of charges including the allegation of fraudulently misappropriated funds in the amount of at least $5.3 million. The charges consist of ten counts of mail fraud, which are federal charges as the mail system, a federal system, is used to commit the crime or crimes in question. Each of these counts can bring a maximum of 20 years in prison. It is not known if any of the defendants have engaged an attorney at this time.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan announced separate charges against a Kalamazoo urogynecologist and a nurse practitioner accused of committing health care fraud and reusing single-use medical equipment.
Roger Beyer, M.D., was charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud. His wife, Susan Wright, N.P., was charged with misprision of health care fraud and the adulteration of a medical device. It is unclear if they have acquired legal representation.
The Michigan Attorney General’s Office announced charges last week against Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith and three other county officials accused of felony crimes that include misconduct in office, embezzlement, and misusing funds obtained through civil asset forfeiture.
Smith is charged with embezzlement by a public official, tampering with evidence in a civil proceeding, official misconduct in office, accessory after the fact to embezzlement by a public official, conspiracy to commit forgery, and conducting a criminal enterprise. Attorney information wasn’t available.
The Institute of Justice has filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Wayne County, Michigan, alleging that county police seize vehicles from residents in Detroit simply because they have driven in or out of high-crime areas.
The lead plaintiff in the case is Melisa Ingram of Detroit. Police seized her vehicle twice after accusing her of committing crimes without ever formally charging her. Ingram had to pay thousands of dollars to get her vehicle back to prevent the county prosecutor from keeping it under civil asset forfeiture laws.
Criminal Defense and Civil Forfeiture Blog