At least five Iowans are part of a huge national crack down on health care fraud.
Officials with the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of Iowa report 47 year old Shawne Widener of Hamburg, and four Missouri Valley residents, 31 year old Mark May, 32 year old Chiann May-Jones, 37 year old Clara Milks, and 40 year old Jeremiah Jones have been indicted in two schemes involving the distribution of opioids.
The charges are part of a large enforcement effort by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, involving more than 400-defendants across the country.
More than 120 of those charged were involved in prescribing and distributing opioids and other dangerous narcotics.
The U.S. Justice Department says the enforcement actions were led and coordinated by the Criminal Division, Fraud Section’s Health Care Fraud Unit in conjunction with its Medicare Fraud Strike Force (MFSF) partners, a partnership between the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the FBI and HHS-OIG.
In addition, the operation includes the participation of the DEA, DCIS, and State Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
Additional information from U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Iowa:
Nationally, the defendants announced today are charged with various health care fraud related crimes, including conspiracy to commit health care fraud, violations of the anti-kickback statutes and money laundering, as well as crimes involving the illegal prescribing and distribution of opioids and other dangerous narcotics.
The charges target schemes billing Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE (a health insurance program for members and veterans of the armed forces and their families) for medically unnecessary prescription drugs and compounded medications that often were never even purchased and/or distributed to beneficiaries.
The charges also involve individuals contributing to the opioid epidemic. According to the CDC, approximately 91 Americans die every day of an opioid related overdose.