‘Shut it down:’ 2 arrested in $3.5M Florida Medicaid fraud-ring crackdown

The ringleader of a Medicaid fraud ring in Florida and his confederate have been arrested Wednesday, in accordance with Florida Lawyer Normal Ashley Moody.

Moody’s workplace introduced that the Medicaid Fraud Management Unit was in a position to shut down the fraud ring, which stole thousands and thousands of {dollars} from Medicaid.

Investigators mentioned the group’s ringleader — 61-year-old Clive McIntosh — owned and operated Dynamiks Well being Care, which offered respiratory, bodily and occupational remedy to Medicaid sufferers.

In 2013, McIntosh recruited James Tenpenny as a respiratory therapist, and McIntosh used Tenpenny’s Medicaid Supplier Quantity to invoice Medicaid between 2014 and 2019, courtroom data present.

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One other of McIntosh’s accomplices, Tymeka Hester, was additionally recruited as a Medicaid supplier in 2018, investigators defined. Hester’s MPN was used to invoice Medicaid from 2018 – 2021, detectives mentioned.

Nevertheless, courtroom data present that Tenpenny by no means really handled any sufferers, and just one affected person could possibly be traced again to Hester’s care.

As an alternative, McIntosh acquired the funds from Medicaid through the use of Tenpenny’s and Hester’s MPNs earlier than giving a few of these funds to Tenpenny and Hester as kickbacks, investigators said.

In whole, the scheme stole greater than $3.5 million from Medicaid between June 2018 and August 2020, investigators added.

Tenpenny was arrested in 2022, however McIntosh and Hester have been arrested on Wednesday, Moody introduced.

“In simply two years’ time, the defendants stole $3.5 million from the Medicaid program — ripping off Florida taxpayers,” Moody mentioned. “Their elaborate fraudulent billing scheme, which additionally concerned cash laundering, spanned a number of counties till my MFCU investigators, working with native and federal regulation enforcement companies, shut it down.”

McIntosh faces fees of racketeering, Medicaid fraud and cash laundering. He’s held on bond of over $2 million. If convicted, he faces as much as 90 years in jail and $30,000 in fines.

In the meantime, Hester faces fees of Medicaid fraud and scheming to defraud. If convicted, Hester faces as much as 60 years in jail and $20,000 in fines.

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