December 13, 2016: Tampa Resident Indicted for Involvement with Tricare Health Care Fraud Scheme
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U.S. Department of Justice Press Release
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For Immediate Release |
United States Department of Justice Southern District of Florida |
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Tampa resident indicted in the Southern District of Florida for his involvement in Tricare health care fraud scheme, money laundering, and the misbranding of drugs
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, John F. Khin, Special Agent in Charge, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Southeast Field Office, Shimon R. Richmond, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Justin D. Green, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI), Miami Field Office, and Frank Robey, Director, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit, made the announcement.
Monty Ray Grow, 45, of Tampa, is charged by Indictment with conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371; health care fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1347; receipt of kickbacks in connection with a federal health care program, in violation of Title 42, United States Code, Section 1320a-7b(b)(1)(A); payment of kickbacks in connection with a federal health care program, in violation of Title 42, United States Code, Section 1320a-7b(b)(2)(B); money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1957; and causing the misbranding of drugs while held for sale, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 331(k) and 331(a)(1).
According to allegations in the indictment, between September 2014 and June 2015, Grow received approximately $20 million in kickbacks from a Broward County, Florida compounding pharmacy in exchange for recruiting and referring patients that were covered by the Tricare health care insurance program. The Tricare program is responsible for providing medical coverage for military personnel, military retirees and military dependents worldwide. The Indictment further alleges that Grow and others defrauded Tricare by paying telemedicine companies to provide compounded medication prescriptions to the recruited patients without conducting any physical examination of the patients as required by law, and that these invalid prescriptions were issued without regard to the patients’ medical necessity. The Indictment alleges Grow laundered cash proceeds of the fraud and kickback schemes through purchases of real estate, luxury vehicles and securities.
An Indictment is merely an accusation and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of DCIS, HHS-OIG, FDA-OCI and U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kevin J. Larsen and Jon Juenger.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Topic:
Healthcare Fraud