Three Indicted in East Texas Health Care Fraud Scheme

TYLER — A Center, Texas couple, now living in Elgin, Texas, and a Center, Texas man have been indicted on charges of conspiracy and health care fraud. The former owners and operators of North East Texas EMS, Cathy Harvill, 56, and Bill Harvill, 59, and the former supervisor of the North East Texas EMS Nacogdoches office, Shon Cooper, 42, were indicted by a federal grand jury last month. If convicted, the defendants face up to ten years in federal prison.

According to the indictment, from January 2007 through March 31, 2012, the defendants carried out a scheme to defraud Medicare and Medicaid through the submission of false and fraudulent claims for ambulance services which did not meet Medicare program coverage criteria. It is alleged that the defendants submitted or caused the submission of false and fraudulent claims of approximately $2,346,000 to Medicare and Medicaid for ambulance services which did not meet Medicare program coverage criteria and for which they were not entitled to reimbursement. Based on these false and fraudulent claims, reimbursement of approximately $787,000 was made by Medicare and Medicaid to North East Texas EMS. It is also alleged that the defendants instructed employees to omit information from ambulance service records and add information to ambulance service records in order to conceal the true conditions of the patients and to receive reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid.