DENVER—The owner of a health care provider forged doctors’ orders and overbilled for home care by relatives to swindle $3.4 million from a government program for ailing nuclear workers, according to court documents.
Anthony Paul Breaux of Palisade, Colo., pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of health care fraud and money laundering.
Prosecutors agreed to drop seven other counts in exchange for the plea. Breaux faces up to 20 years in prison on the fraud charge and 10 years for money laundering.
Prosecutors said the scheme targeted the Labor Department’s Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation program, which provides compensation and health benefits to some workers in the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons programs and in the uranium industry.
Prosecutors accused Breaux of using a variety of tactics, including double-billing, falsely claiming that licensed registered nurses provided care for clients and exaggerating the number of hours of care.
He paid relatives of some ailing workers $13 an hour for care they were already providing, while Breaux billed the government up to $100 an hour by falsely claiming the relatives were nurses, prosecutors said.
Breaux was also accused of submitting the same forged notes to document claims for payment in multiple cases.
Breaux has accepted responsibility for the scheme, defense attorney Jason Crow said Friday.
“He feels deep remorse, and continues to cooperate fully with authorities, including helping the government recover as much of the money as possible,” Crow said in an email to The Associated Press.
Breaux’s company, Honor Bound Healthcare Providers, billed the government for services he claimed were provided to six people in Arizona, two in Colorado and one in Oregon.
The clients were identified only by initials and their hometowns of Dennehotso, Kayenta and Rock Point, Ariz.; Grand Junction and Rangely, Colo.; and Bandon, Ore.
Their jobs and medical problems were not disclosed.
The hometowns of all the Arizona clients are on a Navajo Indian reservation.
The plea agreement contained no suggestion that the clients or their relatives were aware of the scheme.
Prosecutors said the scheme ran from June 2010 to June 2011. It wasn’t clear when it was discovered or how long the fake documents went undetected.
Prosecutors and Labor Department officials didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Friday. Many federal offices were closed for Veterans Day.
Breaux is scheduled to be sentenced on March 16. In addition to prison time, he could be ordered to pay fines of $250,000 or more.
