Rosa Genao, MD, a family practice physician, and her husband, Juan De Oleo, the owner of X-Press Center, a Detroit-area clinic that purported to specialize in providing injection and infusion therapies, have been convicted for their roles in a $2.3 million Medicare fraud scheme, according to a Department of Justice news release.
According to prosecutors, Mr. De Oleo enlisted Dr. Genao to help falsify medical files at XPC to make it appear that the clinic's patients actually needed the medications being billed to Medicare. Between approximately Nov. 2006 and March 2007, the defendants submitted approximately $2.3 million in claims to Medicare for injection therapy services that were never provided and were not medically necessary. Medicare paid approximately $1.7 million of those claims.
Prosecutors argued XPC purchased only a small fraction of the medications that the clinic billed the Medicare program for providing, and further, patients were not not referred to XPC by their primary care physicians, or for any other legitimate medical purpose, but rather were recruited to come to the clinic through kickbacks in the form of cash payments. In exchange for the kickbacks, the Medicare beneficiaries would visit the clinic and sign documents indicating that they had received the services billed to Medicare.
Mr. De Oleo was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, five counts of healthcare fraud and two counts of money laundering. Dr. Genao was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, five counts of healthcare fraud and one count of destruction or alteration of records.
To date, seven individuals related to XPC have been convicted for their roles in Medicare fraud schemes.
Read the DOJ release on the X-Press Center fraud.
Read more coverage on the X-Press Center fraud:
- Florida Resident Sentenced to 63 Months Imprisonment for Healthcare Fraud
- Three Florida Residents Indicted for $2.3M Medicare Fraud Scheme
According to prosecutors, Mr. De Oleo enlisted Dr. Genao to help falsify medical files at XPC to make it appear that the clinic's patients actually needed the medications being billed to Medicare. Between approximately Nov. 2006 and March 2007, the defendants submitted approximately $2.3 million in claims to Medicare for injection therapy services that were never provided and were not medically necessary. Medicare paid approximately $1.7 million of those claims.
Prosecutors argued XPC purchased only a small fraction of the medications that the clinic billed the Medicare program for providing, and further, patients were not not referred to XPC by their primary care physicians, or for any other legitimate medical purpose, but rather were recruited to come to the clinic through kickbacks in the form of cash payments. In exchange for the kickbacks, the Medicare beneficiaries would visit the clinic and sign documents indicating that they had received the services billed to Medicare.
Mr. De Oleo was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, five counts of healthcare fraud and two counts of money laundering. Dr. Genao was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, five counts of healthcare fraud and one count of destruction or alteration of records.
To date, seven individuals related to XPC have been convicted for their roles in Medicare fraud schemes.
Read the DOJ release on the X-Press Center fraud.
Read more coverage on the X-Press Center fraud:
- Florida Resident Sentenced to 63 Months Imprisonment for Healthcare Fraud
- Three Florida Residents Indicted for $2.3M Medicare Fraud Scheme