Over the course of the past year and change, the Allegiant Experts Blog has covered many a story dealing with health care fraud in the United States. As we’ve discussed, it’s an issue that plagues every state in this nation. It’s a sad reality that so many of the medical professionals that we all entrust with our goals to overcome illnesses and injuries are up to no good.
Now, of course, we’re not attempting to suggest that medical professionals, in general, can’t be trusted. For the most part, we’re fortunate to live in a country that is home to so many talented doctors who are truly committed to their patients. And, to be fair, doctors aren’t the only ones committing health care fraud. Many others are getting in on the act. A recent story about 46 year-old Alexis C. Norman proves that. And, in fact, she’s in a class of her own.
According to the Northern District of Texas branch of the United States Department of Justice, the Midlothian, Texas woman ran a scheme that defrauded Medicaid while she was incarcerated! Norman is not a licensed psychotherapist or other mental health provider, but she controlled and operated two counseling companies, Janus and Therapeutic. The report reveals that, with the help of co-conspirators, Norman submitted more than $810,000 worth of false claims to Medicaid while in jail.
In August of 2015, she was convicted of health care fraud in a scheme that involved her using the identities of licensed counselors and Medicaid clients without their knowledge or consent. With them, she submitted claims to Medicaid for psychotherapy services that were not provided. As a result of her guilty plea, she was sentenced to 105 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $2,969,045.97 in restitution to Medicaid.
You’d think that would have stopped her from continuing her fraudulent practices! Norman, however, ran another health care fraud scheme both while she was awaiting sentencing and after she was serving her prison sentence. In this scheme, she and her co-conspirator obtained a several Medicaid provider numbers – some of which were attained from job seekers on Craigslist. Along with their names, dates of birth and social security numbers, the Medicaid numbers (about 156 of them!) were used to submit claims for services that were never performed.
Norman also went to great lengths to cover up her fraudulent activities. As a means of hiding the money accumulated from scheming Medicaid, she opened bank accounts and leased office spaces in Waco and Tyler, Texas. Norman selected the locations of Waco and Tyler to hide her activities from law enforcement officers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that investigated her prior fraud. Neither office space was ever actually used.
Not surprisingly, Norman attempted to conceal her fraud for as long as she could. The report notes that she even provided false testimony at a hearing in April of 2016 when she claimed to not have submitted any false claims to Medicaid. “In fact, Norman had submitted numerous false claims to Medicaid under Janus, including $1,575.00 in claims she submitted on April 7, 2016.”
Some people never learn, we suppose. This is why our team of clinical experts remains so dedicated to helping attorneys who are trying cases against health care fraudsters in court. For more information about how Allegiant Experts may be able to help your case, please don’t hesitate to call us at 407-217-5831 or email us at info@allegiantexperts.com.
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