Businessman convicted in $1.3B Medicare, Medicaid scheme

A businessman in southern Florida was convicted of conspiring to defraud the U.S. of $1.3 billion.

Philip Esformes, 50, was found guilty of paying doctors to admit patients into his assisted living and skilled nursing centers. The facilities billed Medicare and Medicaid, though patients there allegedly did not receive the services or treatments they needed.

“Philip Esformes orchestrated one of the largest health care fraud schemes in U.S. history, defrauding Medicare and Medicaid to the tune of over a billion dollars,’’ Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said in a statement, adding that because of Esformes’ actions, “American taxpayers and vulnerable beneficiaries … were denied the level of care that they needed and deserved.”

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