Orange County Doctor Faces Medicare Fraud Charges
An doctor is facing Orange County fraud charges for allegedly bribing patients to come to his Westminster clinic for massages that were then billed to Medicare as $2.3 million in physical therapy, The Orange County Register reports. Mark Thomas Paskewitz was reportedly indicted by a Santa Ana grand jury on 18 counts of health care fraud at QS Medical Group Inc. known earlier as Good Healthcare Inc.
Federal prosecutors say Paskewitz billed Medicare for massages that were performed by unlicensed, unsupervised employees. The Medicare patients were also paid illegal kickbacks so they would visit the clinics, the article said. If convicted on all counts, Paskewitz faces up to 10 years for each count.
Crimes such as fraud and bribery fall under the definition of white collar crimes in California. These types of crimes may be prosecuted as the State or Federal level, depending on the nature of crime and the location of the people who have been affected by the crime. If an individual has been convicted of committing a while collar crime, he or she may face a stiff prison sentence, house arrest or severe penalties and fines. More than anything else, a fraud conviction takes away your credibility as a professional and ruins your reputation as a business person.
If you have been accused of a white collar crime in California, please contact the Law Offices of Lawrence Wolf to find out more about how we fight these charges. Our Los Angeles white collar crime defense attorneys will work hard to keep you out of jail. Our main goal is your vindication. Call us today for a free consultation and case evaluation.
