A Dallas woman has pleaded guilty to scamming insurers out of over $7 Million in COVID-19 money for tests that were never actually performed.
Federal prosecutors say 52-year-old Connie Jo Clampitt has pleaded guilty to more than a dozen counts of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud.
According to plea papers, Ms. Clampitt admitted that she and her co-conspirators accessed private patient information including names, dates of birth, and insurance subscriber numbers through various clinics where one defendant worked as a contract lab technician.
Prosecutors say the patients had not requested COVID-19 testing, nor were they aware their information was being used to submit claims. Clampitt then collected money for tests that were never done, and used co-conspirators to fake lab results.
Ms. Clampitt admitted that the “labs” at which the co-conspirators claimed the testing occurred, including TC Diagnostics, ME Diagnostics, and PHR Diagnostics, were, in fact, shell entities that never operated as labs. Collectively, these three entities submitted approximately $30 million in claims and were paid more than $7 million in reimbursements for fake testing.
Ms. Clampitt now faces up to five years in federal prison. According to the terms of her plea agreement, she has agreed to a $7.29 million forfeiture money judgment and will forfeit a number of items seized during the investigation, including $2.5 million in funds from numerous bank accounts, two residences, six vehicles, and six luxury watches.
“As the country struggled to cope with a devastating pandemic, this defendant conspired to swindle insurance providers out of millions of dollars. She exploited the healthcare system when it was at its most vulnerable, indirectly raising healthcare costs for everyday Americans. We are proud to hold her accountable for her role in this conspiracy, and look forward to proving our case against her co-conspirators in court,” said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton.
Also charged in the scheme are Terrance Barnard, 39, William Paul Gray, 49, and Donn Hogg, 37.
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