Florida Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Recovers $458,000 Civil Settlement for False Medicaid Claims

Agreement settles allegations of transportation services never provided to Medicaid recipients

January 30, 2008 -- TALLAHASSEE, FL - Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that the Florida Medicaid program has recovered more than $420,000 in a settlement resolving a potential false claims lawsuit against a Palm Beach County company. Employees of Palm Beach Transportation, Inc. allegedly used the names of Florida Medicaid patients to create false trip tickets, causing the Florida Medicaid program to reimburse the company for medical transport never provided.

The settlement, negotiated by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, requires the company to fully reimburse the state and pay more than $35,000 to the state for fees and costs under the Florida False Claims Act.

“Every time the Medicaid program pays out reimbursements to entities which have fraudulently requested those funds, the people who truly need the assistance suffer and taxpayers pay the costs,” said Attorney General McCollum.

The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit’s investigation revealed that Palm Beach Transportation, Inc. used falsified transport tickets, submitted by the company's employees, to bill the state for medical transportation on days when the Medicaid patients never saw a doctor or received any medical treatment. The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated the company’s records from 2003 through March 2004, and found evidence that the company was paid more than $423,000 for the purported false claims during that time period.

Two of the company’s employees, Joyce Khan and Gloria Thompson, were arrested in 2005 by authorities with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department. Thompson was charged with Medicaid fraud and Kahn was charged with grand theft for their participation in the scheme. Some months later, Thompson was referred to a pre-trial diversion program and Kahn was adjudicated guilty of grand theft.

Pursuant to the Florida False Claims Act, companies that submit fraudulent claims for payment to the state Medicaid program may be liable for treble the amount of damages sustained by the state, plus a penalty of $5,500 to $11,000 for each false claim.

Source: Florida Attorney General

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