Owners of Murfreesboro Ambulance Service Arrested on Medicare Fraud and Wire Fraud Charges

NASHVILLE, TN—Woody Medlock, Sr., his wife, Kathy Medlock, and son, Woody Medlock, Jr., of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, were arrested today on charges of conspiracy, Medicare fraud, and wire fraud. The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in Nashville on January 6, 2010. Woody Medlock, Sr., 66, and his wife, Kathy Medlock, 54, are the owners and operators of the Murfreesboro Ambulance Service. Woody Medlock, Jr., 44, is a supervisor for the ambulance service. The indictment represents the culmination of a joint federal and state investigation into alleged fraudulent billing practices of Murfreesboro Ambulance Service to Medicare and Medicaid for transportation of dialysis patients.

The thirty-five count indictment alleges that from some time in 1996 through September 2008, the Medlocks conspired and engaged in a scheme to defraud Medicare and Medicaid by submitting claims for payment for the transportation of patients who were not qualified to receive ambulance transportation. The indictment alleges that the Medlocks submitted or caused to be submitted, through Murfreesboro Ambulance Service, fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid for reimbursement of ambulance transports of beneficiaries to and from dialysis totaling at least $1,000,000, and resulting in payments from Medicare of at least $ $486,813.83, and from Medicaid of at least $101,000. The indictment further alleges that the fraudulent claims falsely represented that medically necessary ambulance services were provided to beneficiaries to and from dialysis, when such services were not medically necessary; that beneficiaries were transported on a stretcher in the ambulance, when in fact, beneficiaries were seated in the front seat of the ambulance or in the captain’s chair/jump seat in the back of the ambulance and not on stretchers; that beneficiaries transported to and from dialysis suffered from various medical conditions and diagnoses identified on the claims forms in order to qualify the transports for reimbursement were false; and that beneficiaries were transported individually when multiple patients had been transported simultaneously in one ambulance.

If convicted, the Medlocks face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence following conviction will be imposed by the Court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and applicable federal statutes.

This case is being investigated by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the Memphis Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The United States is represented by Assistant United States Attorneys John K. Webb and Sandra G. Moses.

An indictment is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. A charged defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a jury trial at which the Government would bear the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt as to each count of the information.