Sarah Da Silva Keller, a Miami-area resident, has pleaded guilty in federal court for her role in a fraud scheme that caused over $63 million in fraudulent claims to be submitted to Medicare and Medicaid, according to the Justice Department. When she is sentenced in October, Ms. Keller could face as much as 10 years in prison as well as a fine of $250,000.
Ms. Keller stated that the fraud scheme was orchestrated by Health Care Solutions Network’s (HCSN) owner and operators. HCSN operated what purported to be partial hospitalization programs (PHPs). Legitimate PHPs provide intensive mental health treatment for patients with severe mental illness.
HCSN allegedly paid kickbacks to people who owned and operated assisted living facilities in exchange for referrals of Medicare beneficiaries to HCSN for unnecessary PHP treatment. Moreover, the PHP treatments often were not provided. Ms. Keller admitted to falsifying records to allow HCSN to fraudulently bill Medicare for patients who did not actually receive their services. Ms. Keller was aware that falsifying these records was part of the Medicare/Medicaid fraud scheme.
Nine others allegedly involved in the healthcare fraud are awaiting trial.
Waters & Kraus is a national firm with highly skilled lawyers practicing qui tam litigation in four offices, including Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Baltimore. Our attorneys have decades of experience successfully representing whistleblowers in a variety of fraud cases. Contact us or call our attorneys at 800.226.9880 to learn more about our practice and how we can assist.
