Doctor tied to Menendez indicted on Medicare fraud charges

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By CURT ANDERSON

MIAMI (AP) — The Florida doctor charged in a political corruption case along with New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez was indicted Tuesday in a 76-count Medicare fraud scheme that prosecutors said attempted to bilk the health care program out of as much as $190 million.

Miami U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer said Dr. Salomon Melgen, 60, was charged with 46 counts of health care fraud as well as additional charges of filing false claims and making false statements. Melgen is an ophthalmologist with offices in Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties.

The indictment charges that he operated the fraud scheme between 2004 and 2013, a time frame during which Melgen billed Medicare for more than $190 million and was paid more than $105 million. In 2012 alone, health official say he billed Medicare more than any other doctor in the nation at $21 million.

"Medical professionals who violate their oath by failing to attend to the health of their patients and who submit falsified billing statements for their own personal gain jeopardize the viability of government benefit programs," Ferrer said in a statement.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150415/us--menendez_probe-doctor-fc7683b0c7.html

[forest444]

1. While the cameras leer at the good Dr. Melgen,

Last edited Wed Apr 15, 2015, 11:01 AM - Edit history (1)

they ignore Menéndez's real owner: vulture fund brigand Paul Singer.

Singer has been using Menéndez in hopes of stringing other Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats along in his bid to cheat Argentine bondholders out of a billion dollars (for bonds Singer purchased from resellers for $48 million). He has already per$uaded a Wall Street judge, the senile Thomas Greasa, to hold other bondholders' payments hostage until he gets his demands - putting Argentina in the unprecedented position of having to sue in order to be allowed to pay creditors (the bondholders). The Singer vulture fund in this dispute, NML Capital, has already received billions in TARP funds. It's based out of the Caymans, through which they facilitate billions in additional tax evasion - including the Romneys (and almost certainly Menéndez as well).

Menéndez, alas, was thoroughly unsuccessful. All the more so after Singer forced Caesar's Entertainment to fold using similar tactics (Atlantic City may soon declare bankruptcy as a result, costing taxpayers billions more). The Senator's impotence is unacceptable to a rotten child like Singer.

Too much is being made of this Dr. Melgen. Just wait until word leaks out of any secret Cayman accounts being managed for Menéndez by his real owner, Paul Singer.

[jwirr]

4. Thank you for the info. This fleshes out the story a lot. Hopefully someone like Rachel will pick

up the whole story.

[forest444]

5. Your words to her ears.

Here's more on this business of "manufacturing" defaults by (obviously bribed) judicial fiat:

http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/04/opinion-a-long-history-of-predatory-practices-against-developing-countries/

As Stiglitz put it in the Argentine case, “it's the first time in history that a country was willing and able to pay its creditors, but was blocked by a judge from doing so.” I'd lock Singer in a room full of affected bondholders - Italian bondholders, just to make it more fun for him.

[n2doc]

2. Making him qualified to run for Florida Governor n/t

[tomsaiditagain]

3. To cheat is political

and getting caught is rarely done.

Pays offs and more pay offs.