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The case brought to light in the Gotcha column (John Cooke Fraud Report, September/October 1995 issue) about the taxi driver who was able to drive over a million miles in a single year—well that’s what the driver billed Medicaid for, anyway—was apparently just the tip of the iceberg.
Forty-two people were recently indicted in Florida for participation in a scam that is alleged to have cost Medicaid $4 million.
Combining the investigative forces of the US Attorney General’s office, the Florida Attorney General’s office, the IRS and the FBI, produced “Operation Ride Free.”
Two taxi companies, Blue Front Transportation and Gold Coast Taxi, were financially thriving when the scam was busted. It appeared that the largest of the offenders, Blue Front, figured out just how easy it was to take money from the Medicaid system about three years ago. While their 1992 Medicaid revenues were a believable $421,269, the jumps in 1993 (to $1.8 million) and 1994 (to $3.9 million) were just too incredible to be trusted. So they weren’t.
Charges include filing false claims, wire fraud, money laundering and filing false tax returns. Penalties range between one and 30 years incarceration and monetary fines of up to $1 million.
© Copyright 1995 Alikim Media