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DOJ details multiple cases of healthcare fraud around Baton Rouge area

4 years 6 months 3 weeks ago Tuesday, October 01 2019 Oct 1, 2019 October 01, 2019 5:44 PM October 01, 2019 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - An FBI raid caught by WBRZ cameras last week is just the tip of the iceberg, the Department of Justice said in a press conference Tuesday. 

Although the raid of Acadian Laboratories led to the discovery of nearly $240 million worth of fraud--part of the largest in U.S. history--there are several more fraudulent facilities just miles away. 

"It's not just places like Chicago, LA, Houston, etc. It's places like Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, New Orleans, and all of the towns in between," U.S. attorney Brandon Fremin said. 

In Iberville Parish, one case alleges owners of the St. Gabriel Health Clinic defrauded Medicaid for nearly $2 million by falsely diagnosing students with serious mental health disorders and ordering psychotherapy that was never provided.

"Not only does it cause a problem to the public, but it can cause a problem to individuals, which creates individual human victims which is part of the reason why these cases are so important," Fremin said. 

Other cases include J. Foster Chapman in Alexandria writing unnecessary orders for $4.8 million worth of medical equipment and Casonya Williams in Hammond claiming to have rendered nearly $200,000 worth of behavioral health services that she did not. 

And these are just recent cases. Since 2009, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force--composed of the D.O.J., the US Attorney's Office, and the Department of Health--has charged more than 100 fraudsters in the area. 

"For everyone out there know, if you're abusing, misusing and defrauding the medical welfare system in the state, we will find you, we will root you out and we will bring you to justice," Jeff Landry said. 

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