Florida False Claims Act Gets 3x Damages from Small Fish
I am amazed at how many people find ways to rip off Uncle Sam. Not only do the big players figure out ways to cheat the government, but even small fish do not play it straight.
Take the case of Vidya Bhoolai. Bhoolai figured out a great way to defraud the government. Ms. Bhoolai (who is my same age) figured out she could bilk Medicaid while running two assisted-living facilities. What she did was actually quite simple. She would bill Medicaid for services which her facilities never actually provided. The total amount she billed for services she was not providing was about $210,000.00.
Last week Judge William Gary ordered Bhoolai to pay (3x) treble damages for her fraud. I love seeing that. Usually in the Qui Tam cases the Defendant somehow snakes a plea deal to avoid paying treble damages. In this case there was no plea deal. The Judge had the opportunity to come down hard. He ordered her to pay more than $640,000 for the numerous (300 or so) violations she committed. Florida has its own False Claims Act.
The $640,000 was inclusive of both the past due fraud amount of $210,000.00 plus the fines. However the wheels of Justice turned slowly. Ms. Bhoolai was arrested two years ago. The investigation immediately revealed that Ms. Bhoolai had used Medicaid's online filing system to overcharge Florida for more then 25 patients. The patients lived from Tallahassee to Miami. Some patients did not reside in either of Bhoolai’s homes.
Its no wonder Ms. Bhoolai received such a tough deal while other major Qui Tam defrauders get away with so much more. Ms. Bhoolai was charged with both Civil and Criminal charges for her fraud. Now that we know Ms. Bhoolai owes the money, lets hope she pays it back before she is finishes serving her 10 years of probation.
Brian
