Office Manager for Doctor Pleads Guilty to $23M in Fraud
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – The office manager of Dr. Moses deGraft-Johnson plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud on Friday. Kimberly Austin changed her plea in a hearing on the afternoon of Nov. 13.
Austin and deGraft-Johnson were indicted in February; the 58 count indictment alleges that they defrauded Medicare and Medicaid, billing for surgeries that were never performed. Prosecutors say the improper billing hit $23 million; they said in 3,600 surgeries billed over five years, 85 to 90% never happened.
Prosecutors also say the surgery deGraft-Johnson claimed to perform is “relatively rare,” and that he did not have enough of the devices required to do the surgeries.
The two worked at the Heart and Vascular Institute of North Florida.
