Rockland man sentenced to jail for health care fraud and embezzlement
A 42-year-old Rockland man was sentenced Tuesday to four months in prison and three years of supervised release for health care fraud and embezzlement from a health care benefit program. Four months of his supervised release will be spent in home confinement.
U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank for the District of Maine said U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Torresen also ordered Michael A. Morrison to pay $206,000 in restitution. Morrison pleaded guilty to the charges on Dec. 11, 2018.
According to court documents, between 2005 and 2016, Morrison was the manager of the Trade Winds Health, Swim and Tan Club in Rockland, which also operated a physical therapy practice known as Coastal Physical Therapy. From 2014 through 2016, he billed about $175,000 in false claims for reimbursement to Medicare, MaineCare, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and a Veterans Administration health care program.
The U.S. Attorney’s office stated in a news release that some claims were false because Morrison exaggerated the length of time therapists spent with patients. He also made claims for appointments that were cancelled, for services that he provided even though he was not properly licensed and using the names of therapists who were not working on the dates claimed.
Court documents also show that the defendant embezzled about $31,000 from the health club by using a health club credit card to pay for personal Amazon.com purchases and by stealing cash that he failed to deposit into the health club’s bank account.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; the Maine Attorney General’s Office, Healthcare Crimes Unit; the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General; and the Rockland Police Department.
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