Weekly watchdog: CVS employee stole $2.5M worth of test strips
Catch up on all things fraud and ethics in the healthcare industry with HealthExec’s weekly watchdog report.
CVS employee stole diabetic strips worth $2.5M
A CVS employee in Rochester, New York, stole more than $2.5 million worth of diabetic test strips from the pharmacy, The Democrat and Chronicle reported.
The employee, Antonio Rivera of Williamsville, New York, is accused of stealing more than 20,000 boxes of the test strips. He had allegedly received more than $718,000 in wire fraud earnings in his PayPal account from the scheme, the outlet reported. He was employed as a senior assistant purchasing manager for CVS Pharmacy since 2007.
Rivera’s scheme was identified through an internal auditing system at CVS’ Rochester office, and a package with his return address was identified. Rivera allegedly ordered excessive amounts of the strips and intercepted the packages to sell to third-party purchasers.
See the full story here.
10 arrested in $42M insurance fraud scheme
A $42.7 million Florida insurance fraud ring unfolded with the arrests of 10 people, News-Press reported. The individuals, who face charges of scheme to defraud, money laundering, insurance fraud, criminal use of identification, and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, worked out of several clinics in Fort Myers, Tampa, Lake Worth, Boca Raton and Miami.
The individuals are alleged to have stolen the identities of doctors and illegally obtained insurance information to bill more than $42.7 million in fraudulent medical services, the outlet reported. From 2015 to 2018, 14 individuals submitted more than 23,000 claims for fraudulent services to insurance companies with more than 20 different stolen identities from physicians.
The claims came from 15 fake clinics.
See the full story here.
Health records found scattered on side of road
Trash on the side of a road in Lehigh Acres, Florida, turned out to be the medical records, personal information and financial information of an area woman, an NBC affiliate reported. Alana Williams, whose social security number, tax documents and medical records were found, stated she had recycled the papers two years earlier.
The reason the papers ended up on the side of the road is still unknown, but brings forth additional warnings on disposing of medical records.
See the full story here.
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."