The owners of several Texas home health agencies pleaded guilty to a $60 million Medicare fraud plot and were sentenced to stays in federal prison.
Dallas-based Healthcare Liaison Professionals owner Myrna Parcon and former doctor and part-owner Ransome Etindi pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and will serve 10-year and 2 1/2-year prison sentences, respectively. A federal judge ordered Parcon to pay $51.5 million and Etindi to pay $18.3 million for billing Medicare at an "alarming rate" generally for the most comprehensive physician exam and always adding a prolonged service code, investigators said.
The owners conspired to form a network of three home health agencies that essentially operated as one, bilking Medicare for more than $40 million. From 2009 through June 9, 2013, the agencies submitted claims to Medicare for 90-minute visits that actually only took about 15 minutes. More than 97% of the companies' Medicare patients received home healthcare whether they needed it or not.
Ben Gaines—who plead guilty but has yet to be sentenced—formed Be Good Healthcare, which shared an office with Healthcare Liaison and was owned and operated by Parcon under a hidden ownership ruse. Parcon and co-owner Oliva Padilla also created Primary Angel in Addison, Texas. Had Medicare known of the true ownership and improper relationship for the three companies, it would not have allowed them to enroll in the program, investigators said.
Another co-owner, Lita Dejesus, pleaded guilty for her role in the scheme and was sentenced to two years in federal prison and ordered to pay $4.2 million. Former doctor Noble Ezukanma, who provided his Medicare number to submit bogus claims, previously was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and six counts of healthcare fraud and is awaiting sentencing.
