Twenty defendants have been charged in seven cases for allegedly participating in Medicare fraud schemes that resulted in more than $26 million in fraudulent bills to the Medicare program.

The department today announced a comprehensive settlement agreement under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Brookline, Mass., to ensure access to medical facilities and services for individuals with disabilities.

Troy, Mich., resident Syed Aziz pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Detroit to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program.

Noel Wayne Jhagroo, 47, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore in the U.S. District Court in Houston. 

The former general manager of a Sugar Land, Texas-based business was arrested on Nov. 18, 2009, for his alleged role in a conspiracy to bribe Mexican government officials to secure contracts with the Comisión Federal de Electridad (CFE), a Mexican state-owned utility company.

Detroit-area residents Baskaran Thangarasan, Sandeep Aggarwal and Wayne Smith pleaded guilty this week for their roles in connection with several Detroit-area health care fraud schemes.

“The Department of Justice will be vigilant in pursuing cases against medical device companies that break the law and defraud taxpayers,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division.

Manual Deluna has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with his role in Memorial Medical Supply, a Houston durable medical equipment company.

The United States has obtained a $10 million consent judgment against Los Angeles businessman Robert Bourseau and Dr. Rudra Sabaratnam for a Medicare and Medi-Cal fraud scheme arising from their former ownership of the Los Angeles City of Angels Medical Center.

Detroit-area resident Jessica Vigil pleaded guilty today for her role in a Detroit-area home health care fraud scheme.

Gevork Kartashyan, 45, and Eliza Shubaralyan, 42, were each sentenced to serve two years in prison by U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson of the Central District of California.

Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center, a Long Island, N.Y.-based hospital, has agreed to pay $2.92 million, plus interest, to settle allegations that the hospital defrauded Medicare.

Medical device manufacturer Guidant LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Boston Scientific Corporation, was charged today with criminal violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act related to safety problems with some of its implantable defibrillators.

Two former executives of Medical Manager Health Systems Inc., a subsidiary of WebMD Corporation from 2000 to 2005, were convicted today by a federal jury in Charleston, S.C., with participating in a conspiracy to fraudulently inflate the reported earnings of Medical Manager by more than $16.8 million between 1997 and 2003.

Ethex Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of St. Louis-based drug manufacturer, KV Pharmaceutical Company, pleaded guilty to two felonies and was sentenced today in connection with the manufacturing of oversized prescription drug tablets.

Sterling Heights, Mich., resident Solomon Nathaniel was sentenced today to 62 months in prison for his role in a wide-ranging conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara L. McQuade;

Shell Chemical L.P. and Shell Chemical Yabucoa have agreed to install pollution reduction equipment on two petroleum refining facilities at an estimated cost of $6 million as part of two comprehensive Clean Air Act settlements.

A settlement with Honeywell International Inc. estimated to be worth more than $10 million will ensure that cleanup of the remaining areas of the Allied Chemical and Ironton Coke Superfund Site in Ironton, Ohio, will move forward.

The United States has intervened in a False Claims Act lawsuit alleging that Satilla Health Services Inc., dba Satilla Regional Medical Center, and Dr. Najam Azmat submitted claims for medically substandard and unnecessary services to Medicare and Medicaid.

Guidant LLC pleaded guilty today in St. Paul, Minn., before U.S. District Court Judge Donovan W. Frank to criminal violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

Miriam Freytes, 49, pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Court Judge Denise Page Hood of the Eastern District of Michigan.

AstraZeneca LP and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP will pay $520 million to resolve allegations that AstraZeneca illegally marketed the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration.

Houston-area residents Doris Vinitski and John Lachman pleaded guilty today in connection with their roles in a durable medical equipment Medicare fraud scheme.

Solstice executive Dmitry Shteyman, 35, and Solstice employees Aleksey Shteyman, 41; Maxsim Shvedkin, 38; and Sara Kalantarov, 22, were each charged in an indictment unsealed today in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York, with conspiracy to defraud the United States, to submit and cause the submission of false claims and to pay health care kickbacks.

Houston-area residents Basil Kalu and Ju-Ying Qian, and Louisiana resident Darnell Willis pleaded guilty today in connection with their roles in a durable medical equipment Medicare fraud scheme.

The owner and operator of a Los Angeles durable medical equipment company was sentenced to 55 months in prison today in connection with a nearly $1 million power wheelchair fraud scheme.

Detroit-area residents Tariq Chaudhary, Lura Barrett and Stephen Cartier pleaded guilty today for their participation in a fraudulent Medicare home health scheme.

William M. Reece Jr., 54, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge David Hittner in U.S. District Court in Houston. 

The United States has obtained a $10 million consent judgment against Intercare Health Systems Inc., formerly doing business as City of Angels Medical Center, for a Medicare and Medi-Cal fraud scheme in Los Angeles.

The Department of Justice reached a settlement today with the Idaho Orthopaedic Society, an orthopedic practice group and five orthopedists that will prohibit them from conspiring with competing physicians in the Boise, Idaho, area to deny medical care to injured workers and to engage in group boycotts to obtain higher fees.

Miami resident Timothy Pierce was sentenced today to 48 months in prison for his participation in a fraudulent Medicare infusion scheme, and Troy, Mich., resident Jay Jha was sentenced to 27 months in prison for his participation in a separate fraudulent physical therapy scheme.

"The opportunity to participate in the Society’s 50th annual ceremony commemorating Charles Joseph Bonaparte, a bold man and brilliant lawyer who dedicated his life to serving his country, is a humbling one, and it’s not easy to know what more can be said about him," said Associate Attorney General Perrelli.

The Department of Justice has reached a settlement that will require Amcor Ltd. to divest a North Carolina plant used in the development, production and sale of certain bags used for medical purposes in order to proceed with its acquisition of the Alcan Packaging Medical Flexibles business from Rio Tinto plc.

Farmington Hills, Mich., resident Baskaran Thangarasan was sentenced today to 57 months in prison for his participation in a fraudulent physical therapy scheme.

The owner and the vice president of a Detroit-area physical therapy clinic were convicted today by a federal jury for their roles in a $23 million Medicare fraud scheme, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services.

Detroit-area residents Faisal Chaudry and Guy Ross pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Detroit for their participation in a fraudulent Medicare home health scheme

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights today issued new technical assistance guidance for medical providers which will help people with mobility disabilities obtain accessible medical care.

The United States has filed a complaint under the False Claims Act against Dr. Najam Azmat and the Satilla Regional Medical Center in Waycross, Ga.

Air Products LLC has agreed to pay $1.485 million in civil penalties to resolve hazardous waste mismanagement violations at its Pasadena, Texas, chemical manufacturing facility.

Two intermediaries were indicted for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to pay and launder bribes to Mexican government officials at the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), a state-owned utility company, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney André Birotte for the Central District of California; Steven M. Martinez, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office; and Leslie DeMarco, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) Los Angeles Field Office

The El Centro Regional Medical Center in Imperial County, Calif., has agreed to pay the United States $2.2 million, plus interest, to settle allegations that it defrauded Medicare.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation has agreed to pay $422.5 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal marketing of certain pharmaceutical products.

A New Orleans-area medical doctor and the owner and operator of a medical equipment company each pleaded guilty today for their roles in a Baton Rouge-area durable medical equipment (DME) health care fraud scheme.

The owner and operator of a Los Angeles durable medical equipment company was sentenced to 46 months in prison in connection with a power wheelchair scheme to defraud Medicare.

Lindsey Manufacturing Company, an Azusa, Calif., company and two of its executives were indicted today for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to pay bribes to Mexican government officials at the Comisión Federal de Electricidad, a state-owned utility company.

Lauren Stevens of Durham, N.C., was charged with one count of obstructing an official proceeding, one count of concealing and falsifying documents to influence a federal agency, and four counts of making false statements to the Food and Drug Administration.

St. Joseph Medical Center has agreed to pay the United States $22 million to settle allegations under the False Claims Act that it paid unlawful remuneration under the Anti-Kickback Act and violated the Stark Law when it entered into a series of professional services contracts with MidAtlantic Cardiovascular Associates.

Mohammed El-Fallal was also sentenced by U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood in the Eastern District of Michigan to two years of supervised release following his prison term and was ordered to pay $2.8 million in restitution.

Houston-area residents Oliver Nkuku and Callistus Edozie were sentenced to 120 months in prison and 41 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in a durable medical equipment (DME) Medicare fraud scheme.

Abbott Laboratories Inc., B. Braun Medical Inc. and Roxane Laboratories Inc. n/k/a Boehringer Ingelheim Roxane Inc. and affiliated entities have agreed to pay $421 million to settle False Claims Act allegations, the Justice Department announced today.