FCA Complaint Filed Against One of Nation’s Largest Specialty Wound Care Providers

FCA Complaint Filed Against One of Nation’s Largest Specialty Wound Care Providers 

On April 4, the government filed a complaint against Vohra Wound Physicians Management LLC, its founder, Dr. Ameet Vohra, and VHS Holdings, P.A., through which Dr. Vohra owned the majority of Vohra, under the False Claims Act (FCA) for allegedly causing the submission of false or fraudulent claims for payment to Medicare for overbilled or medically unnecessary medical services. Vohra is a specialty wound care provider that services nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities around the country.

The complaint alleges that since December 2017, Vohra engaged in a nationwide scheme to submit thousands of false claims to Medicare for surgical debridement procedures. Debridement is a procedure — both surgical and nonsurgical — that removes impediments to healing, such as dead or unhealthy tissues. According to the government, Vohra accomplished its scheme in three ways. First, it used its proprietary Electronic Medical Record software to bill debridements as surgeries when they were not. Second, Vohra hired unexperienced physicians, failed to train these physicians on Medicare payment rules, and conflated the definitions of surgical and nonsurgical debridement procedures when training them. Third, Vohra based its corporate debridement targets only on revenue goals, which resulted in physicians facing pressure to meet those targets. This scheme resulted in millions of dollars in reimbursements for surgical procedures that were not medically necessary or not actually provided.

Vohra has yet to make an appearance in the case but issued a press release on April 7 denying the allegations. Vohra stated that it has been actively engaged in discussions with the government since first receiving a subpoena in February 2018 and that the “case largely comes down to varying interpretations of ambiguous Medicare billing codes.” Vohra asserts that it acted “lawfully and responsibly” and expressed its willingness to consider “an amicable resolution with the DOJ.”

The US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) press release about the complaint is available here.

Vohra’s press release in response to the complaint is available here.

Former Government Contractor Employee Pleaded Guilty to Destroying Records in Ongoing Federal Investigation

David Cruz pleaded guilty last week to knowingly destroying records that were part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation into alleged bid rigging and price fixing by military contractors.

Cruz worked for a Texas-based government contractor that provided operation and maintenance services in South Korea. Over the course of the government’s investigation, it indicted Hyuk Jin Kwon and Hyun Ki Shin, officers of a South Korean construction company that performed subcontract work on related installations. Cruz received a litigation hold notice from the contracting company prohibiting him from destroying or deleting communications. After receiving this notice, however, Cruz deleted allegedly incriminating text messages with Kwon and Shin at Kwon’s suggestion. Then, after being specifically advised by his employer that there was an ongoing federal investigation, Cruz covered up the deletion.

On January 27, the government filed a one-count information against Cruz, alleging that he knowingly destroyed, concealed, and covered up records with the intent to impede the investigation. Consequently, Cruz pleaded guilty to the information.

Sentencing is currently scheduled for July 18. Cruz faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The DOJ’s press release about the guilty plea is here.

Russian National Sentenced to 70 Months in Prison for Role in Conspiring to Export Controlled Aviation Technology to Russia

On April 2, US District Court Judge Dominic W. Lanza for the District of Arizona sentenced Oleg Sergeyevhich Patsulya, a Russian national, to almost six years in prison for his leadership role in a conspiracy to export controlled aviation technology to Russia and to launder money in connection with the scheme.

The government alleged that between May 2022 and May 2023, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and enhanced US sanctions on Russia, Patsulya, along with co-defendant Vasilii Sergeyevich Besedin and several others, conspired to obtain orders for various aircraft parts and components from Russian buyers and then fulfill those orders using suppliers in the United States without obtaining the required licensing from the US Department of Commerce.

To conceal their alleged scheme and avoid detection by law enforcement, the government alleged that Patsulya and Besedin made false representations about the identities of their true customers and used straw buyer-companies located overseas to conceal the origin of revenue. As a result of the alleged scheme, Patsulya received over $4.5 million from Russian airline companies through Turkish bank accounts for the illegal exports. Ultimately, in April 2024, Patsulya and Besedin pleaded guilty.

Patsuyla’s co-conspirator, Vasilii Sergeyevich Besedin, was sentenced to two years in prison in December 2024.

The DOJ’s press release about the conviction and sentence is here.