SOUTH FLORIDA DOCTOR SENTENCED IN
MEDICARE FRAUD SCHEME
Coamo, February 25,
2018. Dr. Salomon Melgen was sentenced today to 17 years in prison, to be followed by
three years of supervised release by the U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra
in West Palm Beach, Florida. This sentencing is the culmination of a
multi-year investigation, which was followed by an eight week jury trial in
April 2017 that resulted in Melgen’s conviction on 67 counts of health care
fraud and related charges.
Benjamin G. Greenberg,
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Robert F. Lasky,
Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Miami Field
Office; Shimon R. Richmond, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG); Patrick
Fletcher, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, Office of
Inspector General (RRB-OIG); and John F. Khin, Special Agent in Charge, Defense
Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), made the announcement.
Melgen, an ophthalmologist who specialized in
the treatment of retinal disorders and who had practiced in Palm Beach and St.
Lucie Counties for many years until his arrest in 2015, engaged in a scheme to
defraud the Medicare program and other health care benefit programs, by, among
other things, falsely diagnosing Medicare patients with macular degeneration
and then performing and billing for excessive and medically unnecessary tests
and procedures, which included injections of expensive drugs and laser
treatments. These tests and procedures resulted in Melgen’s receiving tens
of millions of dollars in reimbursement from the Medicare program alone during
the six-year period of January 2008 through December 2013.
In sentencing Melgen,
Judge Marra found that the intended fraud loss was over $70 million and the
actual fraud loss to Medicare was $42 million. In addition to the term of
incarceration, the defendant was ordered to make full restitution to
Medicare. Losses to other insurance companies and to individual
patients will be determined at a future hearing.
“In perpetrating his
multi-million fraud scheme on health care benefit programs like Medicare, Dr.
Melgen showed complete disregard for what was best for his patients and abused
their trust for his own personal financial gain,” stated U.S. Attorney Benjamin
G. Greenberg. “Dr. Melgen has been held responsible for his egregious
fraud scheme. Today’s sentence should serve as a reminder that the U.S.
Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners remain committed to bringing
those who illegally divert the community’s tax dollars to justice, regardless
of their professional position.”
“The reprehensible
conduct of Salomon Melgen is a disgrace to the medical profession,” said Robert
F. Lasky, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami. “Not satisfied with being a
successful ophthalmologist committed to treating his patients’ legitimate
medical conditions, Melgen devised a scheme to enrich himself by defrauding
Medicare and other benefit programs to the tune of tens of millions of
dollars. The FBI will not relent in its pursuit of Medicare fraudsters –
including greedy doctors.”
“Salomon Melgen
callously took advantage of patients who came to him fearing blindness,” said
Shimon Richmond, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. DHHS Office of Inspector
General’s Miami Region. “Instead of treatment, they received medically
unreasonable and unnecessary tests and procedures that victimized his patients
and the American taxpayer. Today’s sentencing is a stark reminder that
the OIG and our partners will not tolerate Medicare fraud and will not rest in
our efforts to protect patients in their time of need.”
“The U.S. Railroad
Retirement Board, Office of Inspector General is committed to fighting Medicare
fraud, waste and abuse and is proud to be part of this collaborative effort
with the FBI, HHS-OIG, DCIS-OIG and OPM-OIG,” said Inspector General Martin J.
Dickman. “The sentencing of Dr. Melgen sends a loud and clear message that
combating Medicare fraud is a top Federal law enforcement priority and
unscrupulous Medicare providers will not be tolerated.”
“This sentencing
demonstrates the effectiveness of our joint investigations to pursue corrupt
health care providers who defraud Federal health care programs,” stated Defense
Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Special Agent in Charge John F. Khin,
Southeast Field Office. “DCIS is committed to preserving the integrity of
DoD’s TRICARE program which serves America's Warfighters and their families.”
Mr. Greenberg
commended the investigative efforts of the FBI, HHS-OIG, RRB-OIG and
DCIS. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Roger
H. Stefin, Carolyn Bell and Alexandra Chase.
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. Foto and story by the FBI. Edited by Ramon Luis Vazquez Collazo of the Independent Press. Courtesy of
Vazcorp Corp.
