CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Many individuals and companies in Iowa are facing charges in connection with healthcare fraud as part of a federal government crackdown that found more than $6 billion in false claims.
Northern District of Iowa
Jacob Hughes and his company Hughes Home Care are accused of defrauding the Department of Veterans Affairs of more than $350,000. Hughes’ company provided home health care to veterans, although it is no longer open.
Hughes, 35, of Cedar Rapids, is being charged with 10 counts of healthcare fraud in federal court. According to the criminal complaint, the company submitted false claims for care that veterans never received. In one case, the company filed for money to cover care for someone who had already died.
Hughes allegedly used the proceeds to pay sports gambling debts. The court is asking for Hughes to pay back at least $350,000 for the fraud.
Southern District of Iowa
Eugene J. Cherny and Heartland Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, P.C. — Cherny, 70, of Des Moines, and his plastic surgery practice were named as defendants in a civil False Claims Act complaint in connection with false representations made to a Medicare contractor. According to the complaint, Cherny obtained two invoices for each skin substitute product he received from a distributor: one showing the price he actually paid and another showing an artificially inflated “list price.” When a Medicare contractor asked Cherny to send invoices documenting what he had paid, Cherny provided only the invoice containing the artificially inflated price. Federal health insurance programs paid Cherny and Heartland more than $2 million based on the false information…