“You’re not invisible.”
That was a bottom-line message conveyed recently by a high-ranking U.S. Department of Justice official to criminal suspects targeted in fraud probes.
We have stated a similar mantra multiple times in past blog posts at the long-established criminal defense law firm of Hilder & Associates in Houston. We occasionally stress in our entries for readers in Texas and elsewhere across the country that criminal task forces essentially have a bull’s-eye focus on individuals they allege are defrauding the government.
We put it this way on a firm website page spotlighting fraud investigations: “Federal and state governments have made the investigation and criminal prosecution of various frauds a high priority.”
Myriad high-profile media accounts these days make it eminently clear that a key fraud focus is on suspected wrongdoing in the health care sphere.
That was once again emphasized just a couple weeks ago via reports from major news outlets across the country that underscored a Texas – most prominently Houston – nexus. Law enforcers arrested and charged 58 people with various fraud-linked criminal counts related to what they describe as an ongoing ruse of epic proportions.
The alleged scam involved a number of medical actors, including physicians and pharmacists. A Reuters account says they were key participants in schemes that resulted “in the illegal distribution of more than 6 million opioid pills across Texas.” Those pills were reportedly sold on the black market at prices multiple times higher than the market rate. Authorities say that the Texas-tied drug fraud alone resulted in a $66 million-plus loss for Medicare.
Medical fraud is unquestionably a top-tier focus for state and federal task forces and investigatory agencies. Questions or concerns related to an arrest or criminal charge can be directed to a proven Texas fraud defense legal team.
