Nov. 17 (UPI) — An Illinois federal jury convicted a woman of conspiring to defraud Medicare of over $6 million.
Rhonda Sutton, 58, worked as an unlicensed medical assistant for a Chicago physician from 2009 until 2012. Sutton, along with the owners of two home health care companies, fraudulently certified Medicare beneficiaries for home health services, the Justice Department said on Thursday.
Sutton forger her employer’s signature on certification forms and enrolled Medicare beneficiaries in over 2,000 home health care episodes at A&Z and Dominion home health agencies.
“Sutton provided the forged physician forms to A&Z and Dominion, which enabled A&Z and Dominion to submit claims to Medicare for services that the beneficiaries did not need and were not qualified to receive,” the Justice Department said. “The owners of A&Z and Dominion paid Sutton kickbacks in exchange for the forged physician forms.”
A&Z and Dominion received over $6 million from Medicare due to Sutton’s fraudulent conduct.
Sutton is set to be sentenced in March and could face up to ten years in prison.
Since 2007, the Justice Department has charged more than 4,200 defendants who collectively have billed the Medicare program for more than $19 billion.
