When a king or queen is said to have dominion over a particular territory, it means that they have control over their subjects. An article published in the Los Angeles Daily News tells about a man and a woman who used their medical supply company to rule over a dominion of wheelchair fraud. Their subjects or victims in this particular case included the elderly and the Medicare system.
The story states that the man and woman tried to bilk Medicare of more than $1.8 million through the submission of fake claims for medically unnecessary power wheelchairs. (Interestingly enough, the two defendants were actually named “King” and “Queen.” How ironic is that?)
Over a period of three years, the fraudsters randomly recruited their victims and offered the beneficiaries a free power wheelchair. They were subsequently directed to visit a medical clinic where they received a prescription for a power wheelchair. (As you might guess, falsified claims were submitted on behalf of elderly Medicare beneficiaries who were mobile and did not need power wheelchairs.) Medicare paid nearly $900,000 for the false claims and the power wheelchairs that were never delivered.
Following a nine-day trial, the 49-year-old man and 53-year-old woman were both convicted on five counts each of health care fraud. The “King” and “Queen” of wheelchair fraud both face up to 50 years in prison.
It looks like the reign of wheelchair fraud has ended. It’s a sure bet that these two “rulers” won’t be sent to the dungeon for punishment, but prison is another thing. This story is likely to not have a fairy tale ending.
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