North Carolina nurse practitioner pleads guilty to role in $15 million equipment scheme – The Coastland Times

A North Carolina nurse practitioner has pleaded responsible to his function in a scheme to defraud Medicare of almost $15 million by submitting claims for medically pointless orthopedic braces and different medical gear, a prosecutor stated.

Justin Segrest, 44, of Mount Ethereal, pleaded responsible on Thursday to a conspiracy cost, stated Dena J. King, U.S. Lawyer for the Western District of North Carolina, in a information launch.

Throughout 2018 and 2019, Segrest was a nurse practitioner and was working for a Delaware telemedicine firm. Filed plea paperwork and data offered at a plea listening to confirmed Segrest was chargeable for 1000’s of claims to be submitted for the medical gear.

Segrest admitted in court docket to signing false medical information describing “assessments” of Medicare beneficiaries and certifying that he had carried out medical examinations when he truly had no contact with beneficiaries and made no willpower as as to if the gadgets had been medically obligatory or the beneficiaries wanted them.

Additionally, prosecutors stated Segrest obtained unsigned orders for orthopedic braces for the beneficiaries, which he signed and returned to his firm in change for $15 for per fraudulent evaluation.

Segrest, who’s free on bond, faces 5 years in jail and a $250,000 nice. No sentencing date has been scheduled.

READ ABOUT MORE NEWS HERE.