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East Texas Lab Agrees to Pay for False Medicare Claims

Posted/updated on: December 14, 2016 at 3:05 pm
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TYLER – Elite Lab Services, LLC of Tyler, and its owners, husband and wife Gerard and Suzanne Dengler, have agreed to pay the United States $3.75 million. This is for billing Medicare for tens of thousands of miles that were never driven by Elite Lab’s personnel. It all stems from a lawsuit filed by former Elite Lab employee Karen Malcolm under provisions of the False Claims Act. In her action, she alleged, among other things, that the defendants inflated mileage claims submitted to Medicare from approximately 2010 through 2014. Ms. Malcolm approached the couple in the spring of 2014 to voice her concerns about the billing practices. Ms. Malcolm claimed the fraudulent billing was not corrected, and she then resigned from the company.

The United States intervened in the action for purposes of settlement. The Denglers and Elite Lab agreed to pay the United States $3.75 million to settle the False
Claims Act lawsuit. As part of the settlement announced Tuesday, the Denglers and Elite Lab admit they submitted false claims to Medicare-claims that contained
inflated mileage calculations beyond those actually driven. The settlement also resolves a separate lawsuit in which the United States sought to forfeit funds and property obtained by the Denglers and Elite Lab through their fraudulent conduct. Under the settlement, Ms. Malcolm will receive a 21% share of the United States’ recovery, a total of $787,500.00.



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