Fla. Chiropractor Convicted Of Insurance Fraud
By Aisling Swift, Naples Daily News, Fla. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
This week, one of five defendants involved in a large insurance fraud scheme run out of a
A
"It basically was a fraud factory and they paid people to actually be patients," Statewide Prosecutor
Prosecutors say the alleged ringleader, Feghen Delva, 44, a chiropractic assistant, set up Cardinal Chiropractic Center on
They say he paid Samaliazad and another chiropractor a monthly fee to be straw owners to avoid state licensing requirements. Samaliazad worked in
The clinic initially began in
"Insurance companies were being billed for people who weren't even in the country. They were in
Court records provide this account:
Maralis Quiñones
Delva hired recruiters to find Hispanics to be at-fault drivers, paid to crash into vehicles. Haitians were recruited to be in vehicles that were hit, those deemed not at fault, and they became patients. But they never forked over a 20 percent copay. Instead, Delva paid them
Patients and others involved in the crashes flocked to the clinic on Fridays to get paid.
Chiropractors and massage therapists "upcoded" and double-billed for treatments, some of which were never administered. When Samaliazad and massage therapist
Patient recruiter
Investigators interviewed employees, former employees and patients and on
In
Last week, Greenhut, 54, pleaded guilty. Dolcine, 38, pleaded guilty in November to obtaining more than
Delva and office manager
In Samaliazad's taped statement, which was played for jurors, he said when he discovered the fraud, he confronted Delva and told him the patient payments and bogus billings had to stop. He said he was unaware of the fraud when he signed claim forms, and quit in late 2009.
During closing arguments Tuesday, Pica told jurors Samaliazad knew of the fraud, pointing out his testimony contradicts his taped statement. He contended Samaliazad went along with it because he earned more than
"A
Defense attorney
"In order to accept the state's version of the case, you'd have to believe he's gone through all the training and that he's going to put his entire professional career at risk -- and his freedom," Hollander said of Samaliazad, telling jurors he also is certified as a chiropractic neurologist and teaches at
Showing no emotion, Samaliazad stood and pursed his lips as the court clerk read the verdict Tuesday evening. The chiropractor, who lives and works in
Hollander, Pica and co-counsel
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