Dr. Daniel K. Leong, owner of the South Dallas Community Medical Center on Martin Luther King Boulevard, pleaded guilty to a single count of healthcare fraud. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
His partner, Cal Graves, also pled guilty in July, says the U.S. Attorney’s office. According to its report, Leong and Graves defrauded Medicare and Medicaid by claiming false office visits and tests were necessary, leading them to prescribe prescriptions to patients who didn’t need them.
“In early 2012, Leong signed a blank prescription and instructed Graves and other staff at SDMC to copy and use this pre-signed prescription as needed,” the report said. “Patients had their prescriptions filled at pharmacies, which then submitted claims to Medicare and Medicaid for reimbursement.
“However, Medicare and Medicaid would not have paid those claims if they had known that Leong never saw the patient or supervised Graves’ examination and treatment of the patients or that Leong did not prescribe the medications.”
Sentencing is set for October 31, 2012, before U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade.
