{"id":52138,"date":"2025-07-09T19:12:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T19:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/52138\/"},"modified":"2025-07-09T19:12:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T19:12:08","slug":"nine-charged-in-nc-after-historic-health-care-fraud-bust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/52138\/","title":{"rendered":"Nine charged in NC after historic health care fraud bust"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced<\/a> the results of\u00a0 what it described as \u201cthe largest ever national healthcare fraud takedown in history.\u201d Of the 324 individuals charged with fraud allegations<\/a>, 14 were either from or associated with illegal activity in North Carolina. Nine of those 14 were charged within the state of North Carolina, while the remaining individuals were charged in other jurisdictions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The coordinated nationwide takedown found that the accused illegally distributed over 15 million pills, with $14.6 billion in intended losses \u2014 more than double the amount of the prior record of $6 billion. Authorities seized more than $245 million in cash, luxury vehicles, and other assets, according to the DOJ\u2019s press release. <\/p>\n

In the press release, US Attorney General Pam Bondi reiterated the federal government\u2019s commitment to appropriately prosecuting those who commit health care fraud.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s record-setting Health Care Fraud Takedown sends a crystal-clear message to criminal actors, both foreign and domestic, intent on preying upon our most vulnerable citizens and steal from hardworking American taxpayers: we will find you, we will prosecute you, and we will hold you accountable to the fullest extent of the law,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bondi noted the effect that these schemes may have on tax paying citizens.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMake no mistake \u2014 this administration will not tolerate criminals who line their pockets with taxpayer dollars while endangering the health and safety of our communities,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

fraud schemes across the carolinas<\/p>\n

State and federal officials, including NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson, announced the indictments at a press briefing<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jackson pointed to a Charlotte resident, Crystal Sherell Jackson, who allegedly submitted more than $1.9 million in fraudulent claims to North Carolina Medicaid. The DOJ reports that Jackson billed for psychotherapy and drug testing services that were never rendered or deemed medically unnecessary.<\/p>\n

Additionally, many of the Medicaid identification numbers used in Jackson\u2019s scheme belonged to individuals who were either deceased or incarcerated at the time of billing. According to Jeff Jackson, she falsely claimed to be a licensed health care provider. <\/p>\n

In Kinston, a substance abuse treatment company, LifeTouch, LLC, allegedly conducted a scheme involving over\u00a0$1 million in illegal gift card payments\u00a0to patients. The inducements allegedly resulted in\u00a0more than $25 million in Medicaid payments, with staff also receiving\u00a0kickbacks from a drug testing lab, deceiving auditors. Two of the defendants also face\u00a0tax-related charges, and authorities have seized\u00a0over $6 million in assets.<\/p>\n

officials react<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s what I want folks who provide Medicaid services to know: we have never had more forensic tools for detecting fraud,\u201d Jackson said at the press briefing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are committing fraud as a Medicaid provider, you have never been more vulnerable to exposure \u2014 and we\u2019re going to find you,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n

US Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, Russ Ferguson, referred to the high cost of health care in the country. <\/p>\n

\u201cEach year, the United States spends $5 trillion on healthcare,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Ferguson also referenced the importance of partnerships with the many agencies involved in this investigation, thanking each official for their individual efforts. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all here with one goal \u2014 and that is to eradicate health care fraud,\u201d said\u00a0Ferguson. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last week, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the results of\u00a0 what it described as \u201cthe largest…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":52139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[210,1141,1142,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-52138","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114824868309612422","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}