Oakland County woman convicted in $1.4 million health care fraud scheme
(CBS DETROIT) — A 71-year-old Oakland County woman has been convicted for her role in a health care kickback scheme that costed Medicare over $1.4 million, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Mary Smettler-Bolton is convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and receive illegal health care kickbacks and one count of violating the federal Anti-Kickback Statute.
According to federal officials, Smettler-Bolton referred Medicare recipients to several home health companies in Metro Detroit. In exchange, she would get hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks paid by the owners of the companies.
Smettler-Bolton and her co-conspirators caused Medicare to lose over $1.4 million over the span of four years.
She is scheduled to be sentenced on March 3. The justice department says she could face up to 15 years in prison.
The justice department says its Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, which is working on this case, has charged more than 5,400 defendants accused of billing federal health care programs and private insurers more than $27 billion.
