An Oakland County podiatrist was convicted for his role in devising and executing a $1.8 million fraud scheme.
Dr. Kenneth Mitchell tried to defraud Medicare by billing for services under a different doctor’s name, Dr. Mitchell himself had his privileges to participate in the program revoked by Medicare.
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The 60-year-old was convicted by a federal jury for falsification of records designed to prevent detection of this fraud and aggravated identity theft for reporting to Medicare under the name of another physician.
According to court documents and evidence presented at his trial, the Oakland County man was revoked from participating in the Medicare program in January 2015.
After his revocation, he then convinced his partner at the time to enroll in Medicare and assist him in opening a new clinic called Urban Health Care Group PLLC. Once the business was established, Mitchell continued to bill Medicare for services, just as he had prior to losing his privileges, only now, he was exclusively using his partner’s name.
When law enforcement discovered this scheme, Medicare suspended payments to Urban Health Care Group PLLC. Subsequently, Mitchell submitted false statements to Medicare about the fraud allegations, still using his partner’s name. This was in hopes of undermining the government’s investigations and ensuring the release of Medicare funds to his bank account.
According to the United States Department of Justice, Mitchell was convicted of:
- One count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud
- Three counts of health care fraud
- One count of falsification of records in a federal investigation
- One count of aggravated identity theft
He is currently scheduled to be sentenced on January 26, 2023. The United States Department of Justice reports he faces:
- A maximum penalty of imprisonment of 20 years for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud
- 10 years for health care fraud
- 20 years for falsification of records
- Two years for aggravated identity theft
A federal district court judge will determine his sentence which is “to be served consecutive to any other sentence.”
Anyone who believes they may have been treated by a doctor that improperly billed services should report this conduct, to the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) at 1-800-HHS-TIPS.