Former GA insurance commissioner John Oxendine indicted for conspiracy to commit health care fraud

Former Ga insurance plan commissioner John Oxendine has been indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to dedicate health and fitness care fraud.

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Channel 2 Investigative reporter Mark Winne has figured out he built a court visual appeal before now. The plan allegedly involved fraudulent insurance coverage promises to significant insurance plan companies this sort of as Aetna, Blue Cross/Blue Defend and United Healthcare.

Superior-profile Drew Findling, who is representing Oxendine, stated his regulation companion Marissa Goldberg and Oxendine met an FBI agent outside the Russell Federal constructing Friday morning by pre-arrangement and Oxendine surrendered on the charges versus him.

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The statements allegedly contain medically needless pharmacogenetic molecular genetic and toxicology tests. A person of the allegations is that in Sept 2015, a doctor’s apply held a conference at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Buckhead and Oxendine gave a speech wherever he advised medical practitioners they required to purchase these testing for their individuals.

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He’s also charged with conspiracy to commit funds laundering.

“The indictment alleges that Oxendine conspired to obtain kickbacks for needless genetic and toxicology lab checks, and applied his insurance policy enterprise to cover all those kickbacks,” explained U.S. Legal professional Ryan K. Buchanan. “Patients go to their healthcare company for remedy with the expectation that their treatment or check is important, not a rip-off for fraud.”

In accordance to the indictment, medical doctors with Jeffrey Gallups ENT exercise were being pressured to get unwanted screening from labs in Texsas. The lab business agreed to fork out Oxendine and Gallups a kickback of 50% of the web earnings for the specimens submitted by Gallup’s observe to the lab.

Tale proceeds

In accordance to the indictment, in complete, the lab organization submitted promises searching for around $2,500,000 in payment for laboratory tests requested by Gallups’s practice. The insurance firms compensated around $600,000 to the lab corporation as a result of these claims. The lab corporation then paid out $260,000 in kickbacks through Oxendine’s insurance coverage products and services organization. Oxendine employed a portion of the kickback funds to fork out debts on behalf of Gallups, spending a $150,000 charitable contribution and $70,000 in attorney’s expenses.

Keri Farley, Particular Agent in Cost of the FBI in Atlanta, said that Oxendine and some others associated in the plan ended up “more inspired by particular greed than their obligation to deliver appropriate and important care to individuals.”

Findling despatched Winne a assertion, declaring:

“As the son of a nicely-revered Judge, a former community servant committed to the State of Ga and a extended-standing member of bar, John Oxendine understands the great importance of the pursuit of justice. We respect the religion that he has place in our office. We will go after justice for him by aggressively investigating and analyzing the allegations in order to demonstrate his innocence. John Oxendine is a husband, a father, a stage-father, and a grandfather at the similar time he maintains a successful regulation practice and zealously signifies his purchasers across the state. He has been specific in this investigation for the reason that of his name and gravitas, but to be apparent, he has not damaged any laws and is innocent of this indictment.”

Documents point out Gallups pled responsible in Oct to a plan to defraud health care coverage vendors. A February doc reported Gallups has cooperated and is continuing to cooperate in an ongoing investigation.

Attorney Ray Moss of Moss and Gilmore claimed he’s symbolizing Dr. Myron Jones, a retired Army colonel who worked at Gallups’ exercise. He said Jones objected to the genetic screening, identified it was fraudulent, refused to comply and brought a whistleblower lawsuit that inevitably led to a legal investigation and a multi-million-dollar civil settlement that concerned not just the testing but unrelated allegations.

Oxendine was final elected as insurance coverage commissioner for the condition of Georgia in 2006. He ran for governor in 2010 but misplaced to Nathan Offer. In 2009, the condition started out investigating campaign finance violations after Oxendine recognized $120,000 from insurance coverage businesses. Then in 2015, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation found that he never ever returned $50,000 from a marketing campaign for governor and expended some of that revenue on a property and cars and trucks.

Just final week, the state settled the previous of those ethics scenarios.