DOJ charges 19 defendants in alleged $4 million Philadelphia Medicare and Medicaid fraud scheme

Federal and Pennsylvania authorities charged 19 defendants who are accused of participating in a $4 million scheme involving Medicare and Medicaid claims. 

Among the defendants are home health care company owners, their employees and Medicaid recipients, Fox News reported. 

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave on Sunday announced a plea agreement involving a defendant in a separate case in which 21 people were charged with fraud involving more than $1.7 million in claims. 

The defendants are alleged to have billed Medicaid for home health services while they were incarcerated, hospitalized, working other jobs or traveling overseas. In one case, a Medicaid recipient filed claims for extensive home health assistance while also working as a carpenter, prosecutors said. 

Other defendants are alleged to have submitted overlapping or impossible work hours, such as care that exceeded 24 hours in a single day.