According to the indictment, Faulkner owned and operated Heartland Orthotic Prosthetic Lab, Inc., d/b/a Faulkner Prosthetic Designs of Oklahoma, LLC ("Heartland"), located in Shawnee, Okla.. Heartland was in the business of providing durable medical equipment ("DME"), specifically prosthetic limbs and related components.
It is alleged that Faulkner billed Medicare and Medicaid for beneficiaries who did not have a prescription for the prosthetics from a licensed physician or other qualified health care provider. Instead, it is alleged that Faulkner submitted physician names and identification numbers to Medicare and Medicaid even though many of those physicians had never treated the patients or prescribed the prosthetic limbs.
It is also alleged that Faulkner submitted claims to Medicare and Medicaid for expensive, computerized prosthetic limbs, when the beneficiaries actually received less sophisticated prosthetics or none at all.
The indictment specifically alleges that Faulkner billed Medicare $47,000 on three separate occasions and $23,501 on three other occasions for prosthetic leg components when the beneficiaries never received the prosthetic leg components at all. In total, the indictment alleges that from January 2006 through June 2010,
Faulkner used this scheme to obtain approximately $4,948,699 from Medicare and $600,348.64 from Medicaid.
If convicted, Faulkner faces up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and mandatory restitution. The public is reminded that the indictment is merely an accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Reference is made to the indictment for further information.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Office of Inspector General for the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Maxfield Green.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice press release.
