A Norcross clinic owner was sentenced to almost three years in prison Monday for cheating the healthcase system, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta announced.
Shinkweon Park, 43, of Suwanee, was convicted in January after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, authorities said. He was accused of submitting false claims for doctor visits, acupuncture, and physical therapy to Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield.
“Park cheated our healthcare system by filing over $2 million in fraudulent claims, diverting precious healthcare resources,” U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a news release. “He is now being held accountable for his crimes.”
Park, a licensed acupuncturist, owned and operated the LOMA Clinic, which began submitting false claims to Medicare in April 2010, prosecutors said. He filed claims for acupuncture treatments, which are not reimbursable by Medicare. The clinic billed for services that were not performed by licensed physical therapists or assistants, and it billed for office visits allegedly performed by a medical doctor who never examined or treated patients, officials said. Similar claims were made to Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Over two years, the clinic submitted more than $1.6 million in false claims to Medicare and $475,000 in fraudulent claims to Blue Cross Blue Shield. It received more than $969,000 from Medicare and $210,000 from the insurance company.
Park was sentenced to two years, nine months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. He also must pay restitution of almost $1.2 million.
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