Smith County Husband and Wife Guilty in Federal Court
Posted/updated on: January 11, 2017 at 2:42 pm
TYLER – In federal court in Tyler, a Smith County couple has pleaded guilty to charges of health care fraud. Gerard Dengler, 61, and Suzanne Dengler, 52, of Tyler, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to commit health care fraud in an appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge K. Nicole Mitchell. The couple owned and operated Elite Lab Services, a clinical diagnostic laboratory based in Tyler. the couple had been accused of inflating mileage claims submitted to Medicare. From April through October 2014, the company then sought reimbursement from Medicare for mileage that included the falsely inflated amounts. Under federal statutes, the Denglers each face up to 10 years in federal prison. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.
Last month, the Denglers and Elite Lab agreed to pay the United States $3.75 million to settle a false claims act lawsuit in connection with the case. This 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. As part of the settlement, 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.
