KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A Knoxville man was sentenced to two years in prison for a health care fraud scheme that caused Medicare to pay more than $400,000, according to the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The DOJ said in a release that Ian P. Clarke, 43, of Knoxville, was sentenced on July 14 after agreeing to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. He was also ordered to pay $411,963 of restitution to Medicare and fined $44,258.
Clarke managed the day-to-day operations of TN Premier Care, a medical clinic in East Tennessee. As part of the plea agreement, Clarke admitted to paying kickbacks to coconspirators in exchange for signed doctors’ orders for medical equipment that was medically unnecessary.
According to the DOJ, Clarke provided durable medical equipment to Medicare beneficiaries across the country who did not want or need it, these equipment orders were then submitted to Medicare for reimbursement on behalf of TN Premier Care.
The FBI said these orders were obtained from “leads,” that consisted of recorded calls between a call-center employee or telemarketer and a Medicare beneficiary, who provided their Medicare information during the call.
Source: Knoxville man sentenced for over $400K health care fraud scheme / WATE.com