That's exactly the kind of company that Rob Riley became involved in. Did he do it because he had a genuine desire to serve patients? Or did he do it because it was a convenient way to bilk the government out of money?
The Obama DOJ needs to find answers to those questions. And it can do it by reinstating the whistleblower case against Rob Riley and Performance Group LLC. If justice is to be served, the case almost certainly will have to be removed from corrupt judge William M. Acker Jr.
How did the case wind up with Acker in the first place? For that matter, how did my employment lawsuit against UAB wind up with Acker? Federal officials might make some interesting discoveries if they do some digging on those two questions.
Riley hardly is alone in trying to make funny money off medical equipment. The charges announced yesterday indicate the problem is widespread:
The defendants were charged with various crimes, including conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program, false claims, kickbacks and money laundering, administration officials said.
They said the alleged schemes involved various medical treatments, tests and services, such as home health care, physical and occupational therapy and medical equipment.
Again, that is right up Rob Riley's alley. The general public might consider health-care fraud to be a relatively "clean" sort of crime. But that is not the case:
A top FBI official, Shawn Henry, said 2,600 health care fraud cases were under investigation and that organized crime groups have been increasingly linked to the alleged schemes.
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