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Mount Pleasant man charged with Medicare fraud

Staff Report //April 16, 2019//

Mount Pleasant man charged with Medicare fraud

Staff Report //April 16, 2019//

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A Mount Pleasant man has been charged by the U.S. District Court for alleged participation in a $200 million scheme to defraud Medicare through kickbacks and bribes in exchange for medically unnecessary medical equipment, according to an indictment.

The indictment (.pdf), filed in the District of South Carolina on April 4 and unsealed last week, said Andrew Chmiel, 43, used medical equipment companies and other related enterprises to fraudulently bill Medicare for services that he was not providing to patients starting in 2014.

The indictment charges Chmiel with $4,871.63 in false Medicare claims, three counts of mail fraud, two counts of health care fraud, one count of offering kickbacks, two counts of lying to a federal agent and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The case is currently pending in U.S. District Court. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jim May and Will Lewis in Columbia.

The charges against Chmiel were part of Operation Brace Yourself, an investigation by the FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division. The investigation has resulted in the execution of more than 80 search warrants in 17 federal districts and charges against 24 defendants so far, according to a news release.

“The same spoon that serves indictments on drug dealers, felons in possession of firearms and corrupt officials will also feed those companies and individuals who engage in Medicare fraud,” U.S. Attorney Sherri Lydon said a statement. “White collar crime is not victimless. All taxpayers will endure the rising cost of health care premiums and out-of-pocket costs as a result of fraud on our Medicare system.”

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