FLORIDA
A Florida audiologist was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in prison today for her role in a multimillion-dollar health care fraud and money laundering scheme.
U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday of Florida, also ordered Terri L. Schneider, 57, of Lakeland, Florida, to pay $2.5 million in restitution, according to officials.
The evidence in trial indicated that from around June 2010 through May 2014, Schneider and her co-conspirators used three purported medical clinics in Florida, Cornerstone Health Specialists, Summit Health Specialists and Coastal Health Specialists, to submit about $12.3 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare seeking reimbursement for radiology, audiology, cardiology and neurology services.
Medicare paid approximately $2.8 million in reimbursement on the fraudulent claims.
The evidence showed that Schneider and her co-conspirators used forged and falsified documents to bill Medicare for services not rendered by physicians.
The co-conspirators also paid illegal kickbacks in exchange for access to Medicare patients and Medicare patient information used in the fraud scheme, the evidence showed.