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A Baldwin Park resident has been charged, along with at least 18 residents in the Los Angeles area, of participating in several cases of alleged fraud against Medicare, federal authorities announced Thursday.
Vivian Neri, 58, was charged with soliciting home health referrals in exchange for kickbacks. Neri is associated with at least $40,000 in home health services claims submitted to Medicare.
Neri, of Baldwin Park, was one 18 people charged on Thursday, when results were presented for a nationwide operation against Medicare fraud by Medicare Fraud Strike Force.
The Department of Justice informed that at least 91 people have been charged in seven cities across the country, in association with their alleged participation in schemes to collectively submit nearly $430 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare.
At least three doctors and a physical therapist from Southern California have been charged in the six local cases revealed yesterday.
The more than $65 million in fraudulent billing from the Los Angeles cases is believed to be the be the highest amount of false Medicare billing in a single Los Angeles takedown in Strike Force history.
"Medicare fraud is a national problem that has a very local dimension, impacting patients, health care providers and taxpayers in every part of the nation," said United States Attorney André Birotte Jr.
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