On November 4, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced the conviction of two operators of two South Florida addiction treatment facilities for fraudulently billing services that were either never provided or deemed medically unnecessary. A federal jury in the Southern District of Florida reached the unanimous verdict after a seven-week trial.
Jonathan Markovich owned and operated Second Chance Detox LLC (“Compass Detox”), an inpatient detox and residential facility, and WAR Network LLC (“WAR”), a related outpatient treatment program. According to the DOJ press release, Jonathan Markovich, and his brother Daniel Markovich conspired to and did unlawfully bill for approximately $112 million of addiction treatment services.
DOJ records stated that the brothers engaged in several illicit activities out of the clinics. This includes recruiting patients using kickbacks such as free airline tickets, cash payments and drugs, billing for therapy sessions not administered, and excessively ordering medically unnecessary drug screens. The DOJ also stated the defendants would swap patients back and forth between the facilities in order to bill them as much as possible. The brothers were even alleged to have given patients illicit drugs to ensure their need for the clinic’s expensive detox treatments.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. asserted “the convictions today further demonstrate the success of the Department of Justice’s Sober Homes Initiative in protecting patients and prosecuting fraudulent substance abuse treatment facilities.”
George L. Piro of FBI’s Miami Field Office remarked “the FBI and our law enforcement partners will investigate and criminally prosecute such fraud to the fullest extent of the law.”
The attorneys at Chilivis Grubman represent clients of all types and sizes in connection with white-collar criminal investigations and health care fraud investigations. If you need assistance with such a matter, please contact us today.