FW: AMBULANCE COMPANY OWNER SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON

[Guest guest]

http://www.justice.gov/usao/txn/PressRel10/usman_HCF_sen_pr.html

U.S. Department of Justice

United States Attorney T. Jacks

Northern District of Texas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA INQUIRIES: KATHY COLVIN

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2010

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

PHONE: (214)659-8600

LOCAL AMBULANCE COMPANY OWNER

SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON

AND ORDERED TO PAY $1.3 MILLION IN RESTITUTION

FOR RUNNING HEALTH CARE FRAUD SCHEME

Defendant Fraudulently Billed Government More Than $3.5 Million for

Transferring Patients to Scheduled Dialysis Appointments

DALLAS - The owner/operator of Royal Ambulance Service, Inc. and First

Choice EMS, Inc., Muhammed Nasiru Usman, 50, of Arlington, Texas, was

sentenced this afternoon by U.S. District Judge A. Solis to 180

months in prison, announced U.S. Attorney T. Jacks of the Northern

District of Texas. In addition, Usman was ordered to pay $1,317,179 in

restitution. Usman was convicted in May 2010 on all 14 counts of a

superseding indictment charging various offenses, including health care

fraud and money laundering, related to a health care fraud scheme he

ran. Two co-defendants, Shaun Outen, 32, of Aubrey, Texas, and

McNac, 35, of Dallas, pleaded guilty to their role in the conspiracy

prior to trial and are awaiting sentencing.

Specifically, the jury found Usman guilty on one count of conspiracy to

commit health care fraud, 12 counts of health care fraud and one count

of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified

unlawful activity.

When in business, Royal had offices in Dallas and DeSoto, Texas. First

Choice EMS, Inc. was previously located in Carrollton, Texas. McNac

worked as the director and/or manager of Royal and First Choice; Outen

served as the director of operations and an upper-level supervisor.

Royal and First Choice primarily transferred patients on a non-emergency

basis to and from dialysis treatments three times per week. The

government presented evidence that Usman, Outen and McNac conspired to

defraud Medicare and Medicaid by submitting fraudulent claims related to

the transportation of dialysis patients. As part of the conspiracy, the

defendants told Royal and First Choice employees to omit facts when

documenting their transports of Royal and First Choice patients, such as

whether the patients walked to the ambulance, in order to qualify the

transports for reimbursement. Additionally, many of the companies'

records revealed that patients simply rode to their appointments in a

captain's chair in the back of the ambulance rather than lying on a

stretcher.

The government presented further evidence that Usman, Outen and McNac

were responsible for submitting more than $3.5 million in fraudulent

claims to Medicare and Medicaid through Royal Ambulance and First Choice

EMS, resulting in payments of more than $1.3 million.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services - Office of Inspector General, the FBI, Texas Attorney General

Greg Abbott's Office - Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the U.S. Office of

Personnel Management and IRS - Criminal Investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney and Special Assistant U.S.

Attorney McCarthy prosecuted the case.

###

Les

NREMT-Paramedic, HM-M, CSST, SAPA, RSO, AHA-TCF

Senior Safety Coordinator / Emergency Response Coordinator

Westlake Chemical

P.O. Box 228

36045 LA 30

Geismar, LA 70734-0228

e-Mail: lpowell@...

Telephone:

Fax:

Cell: 225.439-6552

http://www.texasemsat.org/>

" Next to creating a life, the finest thing a man can do is save one. " -

Abraham Lincoln

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list. *****

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