Chiropractor Pleads Guilty to Insurance Fraud

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jeffrey R. Shope, 44, of Blacklick, Ohio, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of insurance fraud.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor, Director of Ohio Department of Insurance and Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Field Division, announced the plea entered into today before U.S. District Judge Gregory L. Frost.

According to court documents, Shope was a licensed chiropractor and owner of True Health Chiropractic in Westerville, Ohio. From January 2009 to December 2012, Shope made false statements to defraud federal health care benefit programs and obtained nearly $700,000 in fraudulent payments. Shope would bill for equipment and services not rendered to maximize insurance payments and would bill two separate programs for identical services provided to the same patients on the same day.

Health care fraud is a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the cooperative investigation by the FBI and Ohio Department of Insurance, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Ken Affeldt, who is representing the United States in this case