The two individuals who scammed Johnson City, Tenn.-based Mountain Empire Surgery Center for six years were sentenced to prison and ordered to pay $1.38 million in restitution to the surgery center, according to the Times News.
Here are five things to know.
1. Two men — Donald Collins and Charles Turner — scammed Mountain Empire Surgery Center by running a fake company that submitted false invoices and purchase orders to the center. The ASC paid both men around $1.4 million for items it never received.
2. Mr. Collins was an employee of Mountain Empire Surgery Center, starting as a supply clerk in 2000 and becoming the materials manager three years later. He and Mr. Turner created purchase orders, invoices and packing slips to record medical supply and equipment receipts from the company they created, Turner Distributors.
3. The ASC's management company issued checks for the equipment, which Mr. Collins and Mr. Turner deposited in an account attributed to Turner Distributors.
4. Mr. Turner received a six-month sentence in prison for his role, reduced for assisting in the case and cooperating with the investigation. Mr. Collins was sentenced to 51 months in prison, and both will pay the ASC $1.38 million in restitution.
5. Mountain Empire Surgery Center is a four-operating room ASC focused on orthopedics, pain management and ENT.