{"id":51428,"date":"2022-11-18T18:53:58","date_gmt":"2022-11-19T02:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=51428"},"modified":"2022-11-18T18:53:58","modified_gmt":"2022-11-19T02:53:58","slug":"ten-charged-with-allegedly-diverting-11-million-in-medical-payments-to-private-bank-accounts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=51428","title":{"rendered":"Ten Charged with Allegedly Diverting $11 Million in Medical Payments To Private Bank Accounts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday charges against 10 defendants in multiple states who fraudulently diverted money from victims\u2019 bank accounts into accounts they or co-conspirators controlled.<\/span><\/p>\n

The defendants also recruited \u201cmoney mules\u201d by using spoofed email addresses, bank account takeovers, and similar fraudulent methods.<\/span><\/p>\n

The schemes were designed to deceive victims into believing they were making legitimate payments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese defendants defrauded numerous individuals, companies, and federal programs, resulting in millions of dollars in financial losses to vital federal programs meant to provide assistance to those in need,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan for the Northern District of Georgia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Statue\u201cIn the District of South Carolina, we\u2019ve seen a marked increase in email scams, identity theft, and related money laundering schemes,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Adair Boroughs for the District of South Carolina.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The prosecutions announced Friday include alleged schemes that fraudulently diverted payment:<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, officials stated that fraudulent emails from accounts resembling those associated with actual hospitals were allegedly sent to public and private health insurance programs requesting that future reimbursements be sent to new bank accounts that did not belong to the hospitals. <\/span><\/p>\n

Unwittingly, five state Medicaid programs, two Medicare Administrative Contractors, and two private health insurers allegedly were deceived into making payments to the defendants and their co-conspirators instead of depositing the reimbursement payments into bank accounts belonging to the hospitals. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"The defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly laundered the proceeds fraudulently obtained from these health care benefit plans and other victims<\/span><\/p>\n

This included withdrawing large amounts of cash, layering them through other accounts they or their co-conspirators opened in the names of false and stolen identities and shell companies, transferring them overseas, and purchasing luxury goods and exotic automobiles, according to federal officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

This week, charges were unsealed against six defendants in the Northern District of Georgia and one in the District of South Carolina. <\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, one defendant was previously charged in the Northern District of Georgia, and one was previously charged in the Eastern District of Virginia. <\/span><\/p>\n

A third defendant previously charged in the Northern District of Texas has entered a guilty plea and been sentenced. <\/span><\/p>\n

The alleged schemes caused more than $4.7 million in losses to Medicare, Medicaid, and private health insurers and $6.4 million in losses to other federal government agencies, private companies, and individuals, such as elderly romance fraud victims who were deceived into sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to the defendants and their co-conspirators.<\/span><\/p>\n

The seven defendants against whom charges were unsealed this week are:<\/span><\/p>\n