A Texas-based podiatrist was caught defrauding Medicare when investigators discovered his Achilles heel -- he submitted claims for services he claimed to have administered in Texas, even though he was vacationing in Florida at the time.
In addition to billing for services that would have taken place when the doctor was on vacation, he was also accused of allowing a non-licensed practitioner to perform services in his absence and bill Medicare for them under his name.
The unlicensed practitioner was also sentenced to prison, and will be serving a two-year sentence, the news release indicated.
For more on this story, visit the Dept. of Justice's Web site at www.justice.gov/usao/txs/releases/May%202010/052810%20Beltre%20and%20Alana.htm.