Penn. Doc Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison for Overprescribing Drugs

September 25, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A federal judge in Pittsburgh has sentenced a physician to more than 11 years in prison and ordered him to pay $700,000 to two insurance companies in connection with charges that he overprescribed painkillers to dozens of patients.

Physician Oliver Herndon pleaded guilty in May and was sentenced Monday.

Federal Drug Enforcement Agency agents raided his palliative care practice in upscale Peters Township earlier this year. That came after 87 of 128 area pharmacies told investigators they were refusing to fill prescriptions from Herndon because they questioned whether the large-scale painkiller prescriptions were medically necessary.

Herndon was ordered to repay the insurance companies $700,000 for covering the unnecessary drugs.

 

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Former Hackensack, N.J., Police Chief Sentenced for Insurance Fraud

September 21, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A judge sentenced former Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa to five years in prison on Thursday.

Zisa will remain free on bail while he appeals his conviction for improperly removing his then-girlfriend from the scene of an accident in 2008 and filing a fraudulent insurance claim for $11,000 in damages.

Zisa was sentenced to five years for official misconduct and three years for insurance fraud. The terms will run concurrently.

The Record newspaper reports Zisa told the judge he had nothing to add to what his lawyer already said.

In an unusual move last week, the judge overturned three official misconduct convictions stemming from allegations that Zisa failed to recuse himself from a 2004 investigation of his then-girlfriend’s sons.

The judge said he had substantial concerns about the evidence.

 

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Nebraska Construction Company Owner Sentenced for Wire, Insurance Fraud

June 26, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A Fremont, Neb., man has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for a wire fraud conviction that cost banks and insurance companies in Nebraska and Iowa millions of dollars.

Thomas Herink was sentenced in Omaha’s U.S. District Court. In addition to prison, Herink was given three years of supervised probation following his release and ordered to repay $5,111,026.91 to his victims.

Herink was president and chief executive officer of Golf Services Group Inc., a construction company, according to U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg, who says Herink falsified financial statements to defraud lenders and insurers.

Herink carried out the scheme in order to participate in large construction contracts throughout the country, according to Gilg. Prosecutors say when Herink defaulted on some of the projects, the banks and insurance companies lost more than $8 million.

United Fire and Casualty Co. (UFCC), based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Employers Mutual Casualty Co. (EMCC), based in Des Moines, Iowa, were insurance companies that provided various insurance products, including surety bonds, to construction contractors, the U.S. attorney’s office said. These bonds, which included bid, performance, and payment bonds, guaranteed that the contractor would fulfill his commitments according to the specifications outlined in the construction contracts. Both UFCC and EMCC provided bid, performance, and payment bonds to Herink and his business entities, according to Gilg’s announcement.

Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Associated Press

 

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Arizona Man Sentenced in Insurance Forgery Case

April 23, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A Flagstaff, Ariz., man who continued to collect insurance premiums from small business owners even though his license was revoked has been sentenced to three years in prison.

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office says 33-year-old Jeffery Ray Capshaw was sentenced for diverting premiums by forgery after reaching a plea agreement.

He also was ordered to pay a total of almost $30,000 in restitution to four victims.

Authorities say Capshaw’s license was revoked by the Arizona Department of Insurance on March 8, 2011.

But between April 10, 2011 and June 14, 2011, Capshaw continued to collect premiums from small business owners. He didn’t forward the money to insurance companies so no policies were ever issued.

When asked by one business owner for a copy of their policy, Capshaw created a forged certificate.

 

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N.J. Crew Members Sentenced in Failed Bid to Sink Ship, Collect $400K

April 5, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Two men who admitted roles in a botched attempt to sink a fishing boat to collect insurance money are now headed to federal prison.

Erik James of Goshen and Christopher Martin of Wildwood both received 30-month terms when they were sentenced Tuesday. The men, who are both 40 years old, were former crew members on the Alexander II fishing boat.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has said the pair and three other defendants — including the ship’s owner — sought $400,000 in insurance money. They took the boat to a point about 86 miles southeast of Cape May and tried unsuccessfully to sink it, after falsifying the ship’s log.

James and Martin had both pleaded guilty to complaints charging them with conspiracy to destroy the boat on the high seas.

 

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