Dallas Attorney Sentenced to 120 Months in Federal Prison for Role in $26 Million Fraud Conspiracy
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndtx/pr/dallas-attorney-sentenced-120-months-federal-prison-role-26-million-fraud-conspiracy
Department of Justice
U.S. Attorneys Office
Northern District of Texas
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Dallas Attorney Sentenced to 120 Months in Federal Prison for Role in $26 Million Fraud Conspiracy
DALLAS Tshombe Anderson, 55, of Grand Prairie, Texas, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn to 120 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $26,572,458.93 in restitution for his role in a scheme he ran along with his family members from July 2011 to September 2015 to fraudulently obtain more than $26 million from the Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Workers Compensation Program (OWCP), announced U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox of the Northern District of Texas.
Anderson pleaded guilty in August 2017 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Anderson agreed to forfeit $375,000 seized from his residence, a 2015 Mercedes, and his share of the $8,383,075 that was seized from 25 bank accounts. Anderson has been in custody since the time of his arrest in August 2015.
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According to plea documents in the case, Tshombe Anderson worked as an attorney for Union Treatment Centers (UTC). Anderson and his wife, Brenda Anderson, opened a durable medical equipment company called Best First Administration (BFA). BFA was formed, initially, to provide durable medical equipment to patients referred to BFA from UTC. In July 2011, Tshombe Anderson and Brenda Anderson disassociated from UTC.
In April 2013, Tshombe Anderson agreed with Bankhead to open Union Medical Supplies and Equipment (UMSE). In August 2013, Tshombe Anderson opened Skycare Medical Supplies and Equipment (SMSE). Both companies were created in order to submit claims that were inappropriate to OWCP. The same medical information that BFA had received from UTC was used and billed to the same universe of claimants for duplicate, unwanted durable medical equipment that was not medically necessary, using outdated medical information. Tshombe Anderson continued to do so despite knowing that they were billing OWCP for items that were not associated with the claimants injuries and that claimants were often refusing or rejecting the durable medical equipment for which their company had billed.
Tshombe Anderson had access to the operating accounts for UMSE and routinely transferred large sums of cash from those accounts for his personal use or to launder through business accounts for a shell company called American Federal Union Claims Advocates, as well as accounts associated with his law office.
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