Kickbacks, Honest Services, and Health Care Fraud after Skilling - kaboodle - zimbio - tumblr

http://evanturk.tumblr.com/post/28401519839/kickbacks-honest-services-and-health-care-fraud-after

Joan H. Krause

 

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill - School of Law

 

August 8, 2012

 

Annals of Health Law, Vol. 21, No. 1, 2012

UNC Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2018589

 

Abstract:    

This essay considers how the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Skilling v. United States, which limited the situations in which mail and wire fraud cases may be premised on violations of the “intangible right to honest services,” has the potential to alter the future of health care fraud litigation. While Skilling is widely perceived to have closed the door to several types of common mail and wire fraud prosecutions, this may not turn out to be the case in health care. In health care, the renewed focus on kickbacks as evidence of an honest services breach instead may dovetail nicely with both the Obama Administration’s emphasis on criminal health care fraud enforcement and the jurisprudence of the Medicare & Medicaid Anti-Kickback Statute. This kind of leverage may prove very difficult for prosecutors to resist, and most certainly will require changes in the way the health law bar approaches common Anti-Kickback concerns.

 

Number of Pages in PDF File: 10

 

Keywords: health care fraud, Medicare, white collar crime

 

Accepted Paper Series

 

Date posted: March 8, 2012

 

Suggested Citation

Krause, Joan H., Kickbacks, Honest Services, and Health Care Fraud after Skilling (August 8, 2012). Annals of Health Law, Vol. 21, No. 1, 2012; UNC Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2018589. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2018589

Contact Information

Joan H. Krause (Contact Author)

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill - School of Law ( email )

Van Hecke-Wettach Hall, 160 Ridge Road

CB #3380

Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3380

United States

919-962-4126 (Phone)

919-962-1277 (Fax)

see more  http://springhillcaregroup.net/ 

Kickbacks, Honest Services, and Health Care Fraud after Skilling - kaboodle - zimbio - tumblr

http://evanturk.tumblr.com/post/28401519839/kickbacks-honest-services-and-health-care-fraud-after

Joan H. Krause

 

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill - School of Law

 

August 8, 2012

 

Annals of Health Law, Vol. 21, No. 1, 2012

UNC Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2018589

 

Abstract:    

This essay considers how the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Skilling v. United States, which limited the situations in which mail and wire fraud cases may be premised on violations of the “intangible right to honest services,” has the potential to alter the future of health care fraud litigation. While Skilling is widely perceived to have closed the door to several types of common mail and wire fraud prosecutions, this may not turn out to be the case in health care. In health care, the renewed focus on kickbacks as evidence of an honest services breach instead may dovetail nicely with both the Obama Administration’s emphasis on criminal health care fraud enforcement and the jurisprudence of the Medicare & Medicaid Anti-Kickback Statute. This kind of leverage may prove very difficult for prosecutors to resist, and most certainly will require changes in the way the health law bar approaches common Anti-Kickback concerns.

 

Number of Pages in PDF File: 10

 

Keywords: health care fraud, Medicare, white collar crime

 

Accepted Paper Series

 

Date posted: March 8, 2012

 

Suggested Citation

Krause, Joan H., Kickbacks, Honest Services, and Health Care Fraud after Skilling (August 8, 2012). Annals of Health Law, Vol. 21, No. 1, 2012; UNC Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2018589. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2018589

Contact Information

Joan H. Krause (Contact Author)

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill - School of Law ( email )

Van Hecke-Wettach Hall, 160 Ridge Road

CB #3380

Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3380

United States

919-962-4126 (Phone)

919-962-1277 (Fax)

see more  http://springhillcaregroup.net/ 

N. Korean refugees investigated for insurance fraud - blogger - kaboodle - zimbio - tumblr

http://evanturk.tumblr.com/post/28401604348/n-korean-refugees-investigated-for-insurance-fraud

SEOUL (AFP) - South Korean police said on Tuesday they were investigating 27 North Korean refugees for swindling private insurance firms out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bogus medical claims.Police said the refugees faked illness in collusion with hospitals to claim a total of 1.04 billion won (S$1.16 million) from insurance firms between 2007 and 2010.While listed as hospitalised, they frequented saunas, restaurants and even nightclubs. The scam also involved a 71-year-old doctor and five hospital employees who conspired with the refugees to claim a separate 104 million won from the state health insurance agency, police said.Police are also investigating two brokers on suspicion of helping the refugees send some of the proceeds to relatives in the North.

Medicare Fraud in Florida-blogger

http://evanturk-springhillcaregroup.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/medicare-fraud-in-florida.html

It was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who once said ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ Unfortunately, there are many people in our society that neglect their responsibility and abuse their power. Those who commit fraud against people who are disabled are especially heinous.

Recently, the state of Florida has had to deal with an overwhelming amount of Medicare fraud. The estimated cost of the most recently interrupted scheme of illegal billings is around $200 million dollars, and it was perpetrated by at least ten different offenders. So far, they have all either pled guilty or been convicted of crimes ranging from money laundering to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. There were several different companies involved in the scheme, which involved falsifying records and intentional misreporting of facts to Medicare.

Essentially what these criminals were doing was incorrectly reporting that some patients qualified for home health care when, in fact, they did not. Once these falsified certifications were sent to Medicare, the defendants would then bill Medicare for services that were not only unnecessary, but we usually not even provided.

The scheme went even further into the health care industry when perpetrators began contacting legitimate medical facilities and providers and offered them compensation for help in falsifying documents. These providers, which even included some doctors, would receive kick-backs for giving personal information to the defendants.

So far, ten people have been convicted of Medicare fraud as a result of this scheme in the last year. Those convicted of money laundering crimes have been sentenced or will be given sentences of at least three years in prison. Those convicted of more serious crimes will receive stiffer sentences. All of those sentenced and facing sentencing will be responsible for repaying the money that they essentially stole from the state. Any personnel working as care givers will also have their state certifications revoked and will no longer be allowed to practice once they have served their sentences.

Florida has vowed to arrest and punish all of those responsible for defrauding the state of its tax dollars. With every state in the union in a financial crunch, those dollars are needed now more than ever. Florida has made press statements recently that it has recovered over $125 million in fraudulent Medicare claims in the last year, and is making promises to recover as much as it possibly can in the next.

Hollywood, Miramar and Sunrise-blogger

http://evanturk-springhillcaregroup.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/hollywood-miramar-and-sunrise.html

HHS Secretary and Attorney General host seventh Regional Health Care Fraud Prevention Summit in Chicago (April 4, 2012)--At a Chicago summit highlighting a new high-tech war against health care fraud, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder today discussed how the Affordable Care Act and the Obama administration’s Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) are helping fight Medicare fraud.  The Chicago summit is the seventh regional health care fraud prevention summit hosted by the Department of Justice and HHS.

The regional summits bring together a wide array of public and private partners, and are part of the HEAT partnership between HHS and the Department of Justice to prevent and combat health care fraud.  The Obama administration’s HEAT efforts have resulted in record-breaking health care fraud recoveries.  In fiscal year 2011, for the second year in a row, the departments’ anti-fraud activities resulted in more than $4 billion in recoveries, an all-time high.

“We have a simple message to criminals thinking about committing Medicare fraud: don’t even try,” said Secretary Sebelius. “Thanks to health reform and our administration’s work, we have new tools and resources to catch criminals and stop Medicare fraud before it happens.”

“This Administration continues to move aggressively in protecting patients and consumers and bringing health care fraud criminals to justice,” said Attorney General Holder.  “Through HEAT, we have achieved unprecedented, record-breaking successes in combating health care fraud and as a result of the Affordable Care Act, we have additional critical resources, tools and authorities to continue this great success.”

New tools provided by the Affordable Care Act are strengthening the Obama administration’s efforts to fight health care fraud.  As a result of Affordable Care Act provisions:

• Criminals face tougher sentences for health care fraud, 20-50 percent longer for crimes that involve more than $1 million in losses;
• Contractors that police Medicare for waste, fraud, and abuse will expand their work to Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, and Medicare Part D programs;
• Government entities, including states, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and law enforcement partners at the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and DOJ, have greater abilities to work together and share information so that CMS can prevent money from going to bad actors by using its authority to suspend payments to providers and suppliers engaged in suspected fraudulent activity.

Increased collaboration has yielded significant results through the HEAT partnership.  Since the creation of HEAT in 2009, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations have expanded from two to nine locations throughout the United States, including Chicago.  Strike Force operations expanded to Chicago in February 2011 and since that time, charges have been filed against more than 35 defendants in the Northern District of Illinois for offenses related to health care fraud.  Overall, in fiscal year 2011, strike force operations in nine locations charged a total of more than 320 defendants for allegedly billing more than $1 billion in false claims.

In February, as a result of HEAT and strike force actions, a Dallas-area physician and the office manager of his medical practice, along with five owners of home health agencies, were arrested on charges related to their alleged participation in a nearly $375 million health care scheme involving fraudulent claims for home health services.  In conjunction with this action, CMS imposed payment suspensions against 78 home health agencies in the Dallas area.

N. Korean refugees investigated for insurance fraud | Radio Netherlands Worldwide

N. Korean refugees investigated for insurance fraud | Radio Netherlands Worldwide: South Korean police said Tuesday they were investigating 27 North Korean refugees for swindling private insurance firms out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bogus medical claims.
Police said the...

Thousands Visit USS Iowa Museum on Opening Day

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Thousands-Visit-USS-Iowa-Museum-on-Opening-Day-161710545.html

LOS ANGELES, Iowa — The fearsome guns of the USS Iowa protected FDR from torpedo attacks and helped destroy the Japanese military in World War II. They shelled North Korea in the 1950s and patrolled the Central American coast during the Cold War.

On Saturday, with the grand opening of the country’s newest battleship museum in the Los Angeles community of San Pedro, the artillery that struck so much fear in America’s enemies got a new role: photo op.

More than 3,000 people walked up the Iowa’s gangplank on its inaugural day and nearly every one seemed to want a photo with its 16-inch guns.

“I want them to be part of history,” said retired Marine Brian Tisdale of his two children, whom he captured posing at the gun barrels.

Whether a snapshot on the Iowa deck will become as mandatory to a southern California vacation as a picture in front of the Hollywood sign remains to be seen. Officials said they were pleased with the museum’s first day, especially given the breakneck pace of the project.

The opening came just a month after the Iowa, one of the largest battleships ever, arrived in Los Angeles’ harbor and just 10 months after the Navy selected San Pedro as the site of the museum.

“It’s unheard of. It usually takes about three years,” said battleship enthusiast Robert Kent, who led the campaign to bring the Iowa to L.A. and now serves as director of the non-profit that runs the museum, Pacific Battleship Center.

Built in 1940, the Iowa was an important part of the Navy fleet for five decades. It ferried President Franklin Roosevelt to Casablanca during World War II and later fought in the Pacific, sailing victoriously into Tokyo Harbor. The Iowa served in the Korean conflict and plied the Persian Gulf in the 1980s.

Only about 15 percent of the ship is open to the public so far. Visitors are funneled down a single route that passes through a wardroom where officers ate and relaxed, around the vessel’s upper decks and through the captain’s quarters where Roosevelt once stayed.

Kent said additional renovations are ongoing, and by 2015, there will be five different tours and about 95 percent of the ship will be open to the public.

Museum organizers have previously said they anticipated 450,000 visitors annually, but as he stood at the top of the gangplank Saturday, Kent said the goal was 200,000.

“That’s what we need to break even,” he said.

The crowd that began forming at 6 a.m. was festive, with many dressed in red, white and blue. Within minutes of the 9 a.m. ribbon cutting, the deck had already seen its first marriage proposal. Leticia Singleterry of Downey, Calif., gave her longtime boyfriend, Alex Zuniga, a ring on the deck. He proposed to her last year on the beach in Venice, Calif., and she said she had been searching for the perfect spot to return the favor.

“I thought it was a great place for a male to get engaged. It doesn’t get any more tough than a battleship,” Singleterry said.

Many visitors had a military connection, and some had served on the Iowa.

“The last time I was here I was 17,” said M. Conway Morris of Moreno Valley, Calif., who was a midshipman on the Iowa in 1947.

Morris, 83, a retired attorney, came with some of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren — more than 20 relatives in all — to see the ship. He recalled the celebration when the ship crossed the equator on a cruise through the Panama Canal, and the drudgery of swabbing decks and working in the ship’s boiler rooms.

“You’ve never been so hot,” he said.

More than 1,000 people applied to be museum volunteers, Kent said, and some who chose to work on opening day said they were excited to be part of preserving history.

“There are no more battleships like this and there probably never will be,” said Jim Holly, a Navy veteran and retired publishing executive from Rolling Hills Estates, Calif. “It’s an era that’s passed.”

As the day grew on and more people streamed onto the Iowa, visitors got a taste of some of the more unpleasant parts of military life — close quarters, boredom and physical discomfort. The narrow walkways became clogged, leaving the tour at a standstill, and the steep stairs between decks proved challenging for some elderly visitors who had to be escorted to an exit.

“It wasn’t handicapped-accessible, but we didn’t expect it to be,” said Heidi Adler Palmer of Torrance, Calif. Her 90-year-old father, Fred Adler, made it through without trouble and said he was bowled over by the design of the vessel.

“The engineering is a nightmare to me. I don’t know how they did it,” said Adler, a retired chef from Redondo Beach, Calif. “I was very impressed.”

Thousands Visit USS Iowa Museum on Opening Day (Tvinx :: News)

Thousands Visit USS Iowa Museum on Opening Day (Tvinx :: News)

LOS ANGELES, Iowa — The fearsome guns of the USS Iowa protected FDR from torpedo attacks and helped destroy the Japanese military in World War II. They shelled North Korea in the 1950s and patrolled the Central American coast during the Cold War.

On Saturday, with the grand opening of the country’s newest battleship museum in the Los Angeles community of San Pedro, the artillery that struck so much fear in America’s enemies got a new role: photo op.

More than 3,000 people walked up the Iowa’s gangplank on its inaugural day and nearly every one seemed to want a photo with its 16-inch guns.

“I want them to be part of history,” said retired Marine Brian Tisdale of his two children, whom he captured posing at the gun barrels.

Whether a snapshot on the Iowa deck will become as mandatory to a southern California vacation as a picture in front of the Hollywood sign remains to be seen. Officials said they were pleased with the museum’s first day, especially given the breakneck pace of the project.

The opening came just a month after the Iowa, one of the largest battleships ever, arrived in Los Angeles’ harbor and just 10 months after the Navy selected San Pedro as the site of the museum.

“It’s unheard of. It usually takes about three years,” said battleship enthusiast Robert Kent, who led the campaign to bring the Iowa to L.A. and now serves as director of the non-profit that runs the museum, Pacific Battleship Center.

Built in 1940, the Iowa was an important part of the Navy fleet for five decades. It ferried President Franklin Roosevelt to Casablanca during World War II and later fought in the Pacific, sailing victoriously into Tokyo Harbor. The Iowa served in the Korean conflict and plied the Persian Gulf in the 1980s.

Only about 15 percent of the ship is open to the public so far. Visitors are funneled down a single route that passes through a wardroom where officers ate and relaxed, around the vessel’s upper decks and through the captain’s quarters where Roosevelt once stayed.

Kent said additional renovations are ongoing, and by 2015, there will be five different tours and about 95 percent of the ship will be open to the public.

Museum organizers have previously said they anticipated 450,000 visitors annually, but as he stood at the top of the gangplank Saturday, Kent said the goal was 200,000.

“That’s what we need to break even,” he said.

The crowd that began forming at 6 a.m. was festive, with many dressed in red, white and blue. Within minutes of the 9 a.m. ribbon cutting, the deck had already seen its first marriage proposal. Leticia Singleterry of Downey, Calif., gave her longtime boyfriend, Alex Zuniga, a ring on the deck. He proposed to her last year on the beach in Venice, Calif., and she said she had been searching for the perfect spot to return the favor.

“I thought it was a great place for a male to get engaged. It doesn’t get any more tough than a battleship,” Singleterry said.

Many visitors had a military connection, and some had served on the Iowa.

“The last time I was here I was 17,” said M. Conway Morris of Moreno Valley, Calif., who was a midshipman on the Iowa in 1947.

Morris, 83, a retired attorney, came with some of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren — more than 20 relatives in all — to see the ship. He recalled the celebration when the ship crossed the equator on a cruise through the Panama Canal, and the drudgery of swabbing decks and working in the ship’s boiler rooms.

“You’ve never been so hot,” he said.

More than 1,000 people applied to be museum volunteers, Kent said, and some who chose to work on opening day said they were excited to be part of preserving history.

“There are no more battleships like this and there probably never will be,” said Jim Holly, a Navy veteran and retired publishing executive from Rolling Hills Estates, Calif. “It’s an era that’s passed.”

As the day grew on and more people streamed onto the Iowa, visitors got a taste of some of the more unpleasant parts of military life — close quarters, boredom and physical discomfort. The narrow walkways became clogged, leaving the tour at a standstill, and the steep stairs between decks proved challenging for some elderly visitors who had to be escorted to an exit.

“It wasn’t handicapped-accessible, but we didn’t expect it to be,” said Heidi Adler Palmer of Torrance, Calif. Her 90-year-old father, Fred Adler, made it through without trouble and said he was bowled over by the design of the vessel.

“The engineering is a nightmare to me. I don’t know how they did it,” said Adler, a retired chef from Redondo Beach, Calif. “I was very impressed.”

North Korean refugees investigated for insurance fraud

http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/n-korean-refugees-investigated-insurance-fraud

South Korean police said Tuesday they were investigating 27 North Korean refugees for swindling private insurance firms out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bogus medical claims.

Police said the refugees faked illness in collusion with hospitals to claim a total of 1.04 billion won ($909,000) from insurance firms between 2007 and 2010.

While listed as hospitalised, they frequented saunas, restaurants and even nightclubs. The scam also involved a 71-year-old doctor and five hospital employees who conspired with the refugees to claim a separate 104 million won from the state health insurance agency, police said.

Police are also investigating two brokers on suspicion of helping the refugees send some of the proceeds to relatives in the North.

Fraudsters involved in medical insurance rackets have previously made use of North Koreans. In 2008, police charged 41 refugees involved in bogus medical claims.

More than 23,500 North Koreans have settled in the South since the 1950-53 war. They get government financial help along with job education but many fail to adapt to their new environment.

N. Korean refugees investigated for insurance fraud (Tvinx :: News)

N. Korean refugees investigated for insurance fraud (Tvinx :: News)

South Korean police said Tuesday they were investigating 27 North Korean refugees for swindling private insurance firms out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bogus medical claims.

Police said the refugees faked illness in collusion with hospitals to claim a total of 1.04 billion won ($909,000) from insurance firms between 2007 and 2010.

While listed as hospitalised, they frequented saunas, restaurants and even nightclubs. The scam also involved a 71-year-old doctor and five hospital employees who conspired with the refugees to claim a separate 104 million won from the state health insurance agency, police said.

Police are also investigating two brokers on suspicion of helping the refugees send some of the proceeds to relatives in the North.

Fraudsters involved in medical insurance rackets have previously made use of North Koreans. In 2008, police charged 41 refugees involved in bogus medical claims.

More than 23,500 North Koreans have settled in the South since the 1950-53 war. They get government financial help along with job education but many fail to adapt to their new environment.

N. Korean refugees investigated for insurance fraud

N. Korean refugees investigated for insurance fraud

South Korean police said Tuesday they were investigating 27 North Korean refugees for swindling private insurance firms out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bogus medical claims.

Police said the refugees faked illness in collusion with hospitals to claim a total of 1.04 billion won ($909,000) from insurance firms between 2007 and 2010.

While listed as hospitalised, they frequented saunas, restaurants and even nightclubs. The scam also involved a 71-year-old doctor and five hospital employees who conspired with the refugees to claim a separate 104 million won from the state health insurance agency, police said.

Police are also investigating two brokers on suspicion of helping the refugees send some of the proceeds to relatives in the North.

Fraudsters involved in medical insurance rackets have previously made use of North Koreans. In 2008, police charged 41 refugees involved in bogus medical claims.

More than 23,500 North Koreans have settled in the South since the 1950-53 war. They get government financial help along with job education but many fail to adapt to their new environment.

Thousands Visit USS Iowa Museum on Opening Day - The-looser-it-s-me

Thousands Visit USS Iowa Museum on Opening Day - The-looser-it-s-me

LOS ANGELES, Iowa — The fearsome guns of the USS Iowa protected FDR from torpedo attacks and helped destroy the Japanese military in World War II. They shelled North Korea in the 1950s and patrolled the Central American coast during the Cold War.

On Saturday, with the grand opening of the country’s newest battleship museum in the Los Angeles community of San Pedro, the artillery that struck so much fear in America’s enemies got a new role: photo op.

More than 3,000 people walked up the Iowa’s gangplank on its inaugural day and nearly every one seemed to want a photo with its 16-inch guns.

“I want them to be part of history,” said retired Marine Brian Tisdale of his two children, whom he captured posing at the gun barrels.

Whether a snapshot on the Iowa deck will become as mandatory to a southern California vacation as a picture in front of the Hollywood sign remains to be seen. Officials said they were pleased with the museum’s first day, especially given the breakneck pace of the project.

The opening came just a month after the Iowa, one of the largest battleships ever, arrived in Los Angeles’ harbor and just 10 months after the Navy selected San Pedro as the site of the museum.

“It’s unheard of. It usually takes about three years,” said battleship enthusiast Robert Kent, who led the campaign to bring the Iowa to L.A. and now serves as director of the non-profit that runs the museum, Pacific Battleship Center.

Built in 1940, the Iowa was an important part of the Navy fleet for five decades. It ferried President Franklin Roosevelt to Casablanca during World War II and later fought in the Pacific, sailing victoriously into Tokyo Harbor. The Iowa served in the Korean conflict and plied the Persian Gulf in the 1980s.

Only about 15 percent of the ship is open to the public so far. Visitors are funneled down a single route that passes through a wardroom where officers ate and relaxed, around the vessel’s upper decks and through the captain’s quarters where Roosevelt once stayed.

Kent said additional renovations are ongoing, and by 2015, there will be five different tours and about 95 percent of the ship will be open to the public.

Museum organizers have previously said they anticipated 450,000 visitors annually, but as he stood at the top of the gangplank Saturday, Kent said the goal was 200,000.

N. Korean refugees investigated for insurance fraud | Radio Netherlands Worldwide - The-looser-it-s-me

N. Korean refugees investigated for insurance fraud | Radio Netherlands Worldwide - The-looser-it-s-me
South Korean police said Tuesday they were investigating 27 North Korean refugees for swindling private insurance firms out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bogus medical claims. 

Police said the refugees faked illness in collusion with hospitals to claim a total of 1.04 billion won ($909,000) from insurance firms between 2007 and 2010. 

While listed as hospitalised, they frequented saunas, restaurants and even nightclubs. The scam also involved a 71-year-old doctor and five hospital employees who conspired with the refugees to claim a separate 104 million won from the state health insurance agency, police said. 

Police are also investigating two brokers on suspicion of helping the refugees send some of the proceeds to relatives in the North. 

Fraudsters involved in medical insurance rackets have previously made use of North Koreans. In 2008, police charged 41 refugees involved in bogus medical claims. 

More than 23,500 North Koreans have settled in the South since the 1950-53 war. They get government financial help along with job education but many fail to adapt to their new environment. 

North Korean refugees investigated for insurance fraud

http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/n-korean-refugees-investigated-insurance-fraud

South Korean police said Tuesday they were investigating 27 North Korean refugees for swindling private insurance firms out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bogus medical claims.

Police said the refugees faked illness in collusion with hospitals to claim a total of 1.04 billion won ($909,000) from insurance firms between 2007 and 2010.

While listed as hospitalised, they frequented saunas, restaurants and even nightclubs. The scam also involved a 71-year-old doctor and five hospital employees who conspired with the refugees to claim a separate 104 million won from the state health insurance agency, police said.

Police are also investigating two brokers on suspicion of helping the refugees send some of the proceeds to relatives in the North.

Fraudsters involved in medical insurance rackets have previously made use of North Koreans. In 2008, police charged 41 refugees involved in bogus medical claims.

More than 23,500 North Koreans have settled in the South since the 1950-53 war. They get government financial help along with job education but many fail to adapt to their new environment.

N Korean refugees investigated for insurance fraud

http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/n-korean-refugees-investigated-insurance-fraud

South Korean police said Tuesday they were investigating 27 North Korean refugees for swindling private insurance firms out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bogus medical claims.

Police said the refugees faked illness in collusion with hospitals to claim a total of 1.04 billion won ($909,000) from insurance firms between 2007 and 2010.

While listed as hospitalised, they frequented saunas, restaurants and even nightclubs. The scam also involved a 71-year-old doctor and five hospital employees who conspired with the refugees to claim a separate 104 million won from the state health insurance agency, police said.

Police are also investigating two brokers on suspicion of helping the refugees send some of the proceeds to relatives in the North.

Fraudsters involved in medical insurance rackets have previously made use of North Koreans. In 2008, police charged 41 refugees involved in bogus medical claims.

More than 23,500 North Koreans have settled in the South since the 1950-53 war. They get government financial help along with job education but many fail to adapt to their new environment.