LOS ANGELES (KNX) — Callie Jean Black, an L.A. marketer in the medical industry, was arrested Tuesday for her role in a scheme that defrauded $30 million out of Medicare.
Black, a 63-year-old Lancaster, Calif. resident, is accused of accepting illegal kickbacks from a physician and the owner of two hospice companies to refer patients to them, according to the United States Department of Justice.
Black and Dr. Victor Contreras, 66, of Santa Paula, were named in a 14-count indictment released Tuesday, in addition to their alleged co-conspirator Juanita Antenor.
Antenor, 59, remains at large and is believed to be in the Philippines. She was formally a Pasadena resident who owned Arcadia Hospice Provider, Inc. and controlled Saint Marium Hospice, Inc., according to the DOJ.
Both hospices are accused of billing Medicare and Medi-Cal or hospice services for patients who were not terminally ill and in some case, submitting bills for services that were never provided, prosecutors allege.
"Contreras, who was on probation imposed by the California Medical Board while he was part of the scheme, provided fraudulent certifications for some of these patients, including patients he claimed to have examined, but never actually saw," according to the indictment.
Antenor is alleged to have paid several marketers (including Black) illegal kickbacks to have the patients referred to her hospices. She and Contreras are charged in the indictment with health care fraud – six counts name Antenor, and Contreras is charged with five counts.
Additionally, Antenor is charged with four counts of paying illegal kickbacks for health care referrals.
Black is charged with four counts of receiving illegal kickbacks, which carries a sentence of up to 40 years behind bars, according to prosecutors.
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