SAN JOSE – Three Bay Area doctors and three other health care professionals were indicted last month by a federal grand jury in a kickback scheme related to the referral of Medicare patients to a home health care agency in Milpitas, United States Attorney Alex G. Tse announced Thursday.
Federal prosecutors allege three Bay Area doctors received money in exchange for referrals to Medics Choice Home Health, Inc. Prosecutors say Medics Choice Home Health received $4.2 million from Medicare for the care of patients referred by the doctors.
According to the federal indictment, doctors Abdelsalam Mogasbe, 51, of San Jose, Jaime Cortes, 52, of Vacaville, and James Nickolopoulos, 70, of San Leandro, conspired to receive kickback payments, and did receive payments, in exchange for referring Medicare patients to Medics Choice Home Health. Cortes, Mogasbe, and Nickolopoulos were each charged with three counts of receipt of remuneration for referral of a Medicare patient.
Felina Roque, 62, of Sunnyvale, the owner of Medics Choice Home Health, was charged with 16 counts of payment of remuneration for referral of a Medicare patient and with one count of conspiracy to pay and receive remuneration for the referral of Medicare beneficiaries, prosecutors said. Loreta Dario, 57, of Hayward, and Lorena Gerasimov, 40, of Vacaville, employees of Home Health, were each charged with three counts of conspiring to pay, and actually did pay, kickbacks, according to the indictment.
Attempts on Tuesday by this news organization to contact the defendants or their attorneys were unsuccessful.
The alleged kickbacks ranged from $250 to $700 for each Medicare beneficiary referred to Home Health, and in some cases the kickbacks were paid as a flat monthly rate of about $2,000 to $3,500, according to court documents.
During the time of the alleged kickbacks, between April, 2013 and May 2017, Medicare paid Home Health $4.2 million for claims from Medicare recipients referred in the kickback scheme, according to court documents.
Prosecutors say Roque, and employees working under her direction, maintained spreadsheets of the kickbacks.
Prosecutors also charged Roque with one count of obstruction of justice, alleging she obstructed the FBI investigation by threatening former employees who were voluntarily interviewed by agents.
