Meridian doctor accused of healthcare scheme

Sep. 25--A Meridian doctor and another individual face federal charges in an alleged healthcare scheme.

Gregory Auzenne, M.D., 49, and Tiffany Clark, 45, were charged on Wednesday for their alleged participation in a scheme to defraud TRICARE and other private health insurance companies by prescribing medically unnecessary compounded medications in exchange for kickbacks and bribes, according to a news release from U.S. Department of Justice.

The indictment alleges that Auzenne and Clark caused the submission of more than $1.6 million in fraudulent claims to TRICARE, a health insurance program for members and veterans of the armed forces and their families.

Also charged were Wade Ashley Walters, 52, of Hattiesburg, a co-owner of numerous compounding pharmacies and pharmaceutical marketing companies. The indictment alleges that, based on these fraudulent prescriptions, Walters caused TRICARE and other health care benefit programs to reimburse his and other compounding pharmacies more than $510 million.

In the Middle District of Louisiana, four defendants were charged, according to the news release.

Foster Chapman, D.O., 40, of Alexandria, Louisiana, was charged for his alleged participation in a scheme to prescribe medically unnecessary durable medical equipment, namely orthotics, to Medicare beneficiaries whom he never examined and in the absence of any doctor-patient relationship.

Victor Clark Kirk, 70, and Marilyn Brown Antwine, 51, both of Baton Rouge, the former CEO and COO, respectively, of a federally qualified health center, were charged for their alleged roles in a scheme to defraud Medicaid.

The indictment alleges that Kirk and Antwine directed employees to falsely diagnose students with significant mental health disorders and subsequently submit false claims to Medicaid falsely claiming that psychotherapy services were provided, when in fact they were not. According to the indictment, during the relevant time period, the health center's claims for purported group psychotherapy services totaled more than $1.8 million.

In the Eastern District of Louisiana, Aaron Denn, 34, of Metairie, was charged for his alleged role in a scheme to obtain and divert oxycodone pills to the black market. Christie Lynn Browning, 40, of Metairie, was charged for her alleged role in a conspiracy to obtain oxycodone by fraud and to then distribute those pills.

In the Northern District of Florida, Helen Elizabeth Storey, 37 and Stephanie Lynn Fleming, 42, both of Tallahassee, were charged for their alleged participation in a scheme to defraud Medicaid by submitting false and fraudulent claims for purported behavioral health services, including psychotherapy, that were not provided. According to the indictment, Fleming and Storey submitted approximately $250,000 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicaid.

The charges were announced by Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, who said in the news release that the conduct allegedly resulted in more than $515 million in fraudulent billings.

"Fraud against our nation's vital federal health care programs amounts to theft from American taxpayers," Benczkowski said in the news release. "The Department of Justice, together with our law enforcement partners, will continue to investigate and prosecute aggressively those who bill these programs for medically unnecessary services, whether in the Gulf Coast or elsewhere in the United States."

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