St. Louis County Doctor Sentenced for Obstructing FBI Investigation

St. Louis, MO – Dr. Vidal Sheen, 58, St. Louis County, Missouri, was sentenced today to two years’ probation, after previously pleading guilty to obstructing an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) regarding whether he billed the Medicare program and private insurers for “face to face” office visits performed on dates when he was actually traveling outside of Missouri, and sometimes traveling outside of the United States.  The Court further imposed a fine of $45,000 and restitution in favor of Medicare and several private insurance companies in the total amount of $142,053, which he has paid in full. 

According to his plea agreement, Dr. Sheen operated a medical office in St. Louis County, Missouri.  At the medical office, Dr. Sheen created medical records using a template which falsely recited patients’ symptoms and histories, and sometimes recorded vital signs (e.g. pulse rates) that did not change between patients’ visits. 

Moreover, from time to time, defendant traveled to various destinations, including Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and Florida.  For these timeframes when Dr. Sheen was out of town, he created office notes with false entries reflecting that he had seen patients in his office, using his electronic signature.  Dr. Sheen's medical records did not discuss the role of the other employees in his office during the out-of-town visits, or his absence from the office on the dates of service. 

The United States served Dr. Sheen’s office with a subpoena requesting medical records regarding his office visits in late 2016.  In response to the subpoena, on December 1, 2016, Dr. Sheen produced medical records to the FBI in which he had made false entries about face-to-face office visits, in an effort to impede, obstruct, and influence the FBI’s billing investigation.            

Dr. Sheen pled guilty to one felony count of obstructing an investigation before United States District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on July 13, 2018. 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.