The ringleader of a Medicaid fraud ring in Florida and his accomplice were arrested Wednesday, according to Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.
Moody’s office announced that the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit was able to shut down the fraud ring, which stole millions of dollars from Medicaid.
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Investigators said the group’s ringleader — 61-year-old Clive McIntosh — owned and operated Dynamiks Health Care, which provided respiratory, physical and occupational therapy to Medicaid patients.
In 2013, McIntosh recruited James Tenpenny as a respiratory therapist, and McIntosh used Tenpenny’s Medicaid Provider Number to bill Medicaid between 2014 and 2019, court records show.
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Another of McIntosh’s accomplices, Tymeka Hester, was also recruited as a Medicaid provider in 2018, investigators explained. Hester’s MPN was used to bill Medicaid from 2018 - 2021, detectives said.
However, court records show that Tenpenny never actually treated any patients, and only one patient could be traced back to Hester’s care.
Instead, McIntosh received the funds from Medicaid by using Tenpenny’s and Hester’s MPNs before giving some of those funds to Tenpenny and Hester as kickbacks, investigators stated.
In total, the scheme stole more than $3.5 million from Medicaid between June 2018 and August 2020, investigators added.
Tenpenny was arrested in 2022, but McIntosh and Hester were arrested on Wednesday, Moody announced.
“In just two years’ time, the defendants stole $3.5 million from the Medicaid program — ripping off Florida taxpayers,” Moody said. “Their elaborate fraudulent billing scheme, which also involved money laundering, spanned multiple counties until my MFCU investigators, working with local and federal law enforcement agencies, shut it down.”
McIntosh faces charges of racketeering, Medicaid fraud and money laundering. He is held on bond of over $2 million. If convicted, he faces up to 90 years in prison and $30,000 in fines.
Meanwhile, Hester faces charges of Medicaid fraud and scheming to defraud. If convicted, Hester faces up to 60 years in prison and $20,000 in fines.
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