Doctor Charged in Kickback Scheme Involving a Philadelphia Hospice
| U.S. Attorney’s Office August 02, 2012 |
WASHINGTON, DC—A Pennsylvania doctor was arrested and charged in a kickback scheme arising from his employment as a medical director at Home Care Hospice Inc. (HCH), a hospice care provider in Philadelphia, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and United States Attorney Zane David Memeger of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The indictment, unsealed today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, charges Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania resident Eugene Goldman M.D., also known as Yevgeniy Goldman, with violations of the federal anti-kickback statute and a conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute. According to the indictment, Goldman, 54, was a physician licensed by the state of Pennsylvania with a practice in Philadelphia.
According to the indictment, from approximately December 2000 until approximately July 2011, Goldman served as the medical director for HCH and regularly referred Medicare or Medicaid patient beneficiaries to HCH. FBI and Health and Human Services agents arrested Goldman this morning.
HCH was a for-profit business that provided hospice services for patients at nursing homes, hospitals, and private residences. According to the indictment unsealed today, HCH paid kickbacks to Goldman in checks drawn on an HCH bank account or in cash. To conceal the fact that kickbacks were paid, the indictment alleges that HCH and Goldman entered a written contract to create the false appearance that all payments to Goldman from HCH were for services rendered in Goldman’s capacity as medical director for HCH.
The indictment further alleges that from January 2004 to October 2008, HCH made payments to Goldman totaling approximately $228,773 for Medicare and Medicaid patient referrals. Finally, the indictment charges that on five separate occasions between January and March 2009, Goldman solicited and received payments by cash and/or checks for patient referrals.
For count one, the maximum penalty for a conspiracy violation is five years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a three year term of supervised release and a $100 special assessment. A conviction also results in mandatory exclusion from participation in any federal health care program.
For counts two through six, the maximum penalty for an anti-kickback statute violation is five years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a three-year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. A conviction also results in mandatory exclusion from participation in any federal health care program.
An indictment or information is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the FBI in Philadelphia and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Suzanne B. Ercole and Trial Attorney Margaret Vierbuchen of the Organized Crime and Gang Section in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.