Court upholds Medicaid fraud convictions of 4 Florida execs

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld the convictions of four Florida health care executives found guilty in a health care fraud investigation.

A 124-page opinion issued by a 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found “overwhelming evidence” that the WellCare executives participated in a scheme to file false Medicaid expense reports.

Convicted were former WellCare CEO Todd Farha; former Chief Financial Officer Paul Behrens; William Kale, vice president of a subsidiary and former WellCare vice president Peter Clay.

The court found that the defendants overstated the amounts spent on Medicaid services on invoices, which allowed the company to keep millions of dollars in tax-subsidized funds that should have been refunded.

The court rejected the defendants’ argument that their actions were simple routine contractual and regulatory disagreements.