A physical therapist from Sterling Heights, Mich., admitted in court to creating fictitious therapy files for Medicare recipients in order to receive $2.9 million from fraudulent claims.

Solomon Nathaniel, 51, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Detroit Oct. 19 to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Nathaniel admitted that he worked as a contract therapist for Suresh Chand, a co-conspirator who owned and controlled several companies providing physical and occupational therapy to Medicare beneficiaries in the Detroit area.

In court, Nathaniel admitted he, Chand and others created fictitious therapy files documenting therapy services that never occurred and were billed to Medicare through sham Medicare providers controlled by Chand and other co-conspirators.

Court documents indicated that Chand knew that in order to create the fictitious files, he and other unnamed co-conspirators needed to pay cash kickbacks and other inducements to Medicare beneficiaries in exchange for their identification numbers and signatures on the false documents.
Nathaniel admitted he was among the therapists signing fake “progress notes” and other documents claiming therapy that never actually occurred.

Nathaniel said that during the course of the scheme, he signed 1,250 fictitious physical therapy files detailing services to Medicare beneficiaries that never occurred. He also admitted that between December 2003 and July 2006 that he falsified physical therapy files that supported claims to Medicare totaling $6.2 million. Medicare paid $2.9 million on those claims, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Nathaniel acknowledged that he was aware Medicare was being billed for the services he falsely represented he had performed.

Chand pleaded guilty to similar charges Sept. 29. He is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 13, 2010, and faces a maximum of 30 years in prison and a $750,000 fine.

In his plea, Chand admitted that between January 2003 and March 2007, he and his co-conspirators submitted false claims totaling $18.4 million to Medicare. While the claim amount paid out by Medicare was not disclosed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Chand acknowledged he laundered the funds through a series of transactions using shell companies designed to conceal the nature, source, location, ownership and control of the funds illegally obtained.