ABERDEEN — A Webb woman who helped a Greenwood hospice owner defraud the federal government of millions in a health care swindle has been sentenced to two years in prison.
Betty Powell, 48, had previously pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and admitted to providing patient names and identifying information to Regina Swims-King, the owner of the now-defunct Angelic Hospice in Greenwood.
Swims-King, who also pleaded guilty in the case and was sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison, paid Powell about $244,000 to collect patient information that was used to submit fraudulent Medicare claims for hospice services.
Powell was also ordered to pay that money back to the federal government and will serve three years of post-release supervision following her release. Her prison term is scheduled to begin April 6.
Court records indicated that the now-defunct hospice operated in several counties across the Delta and billed Medicare for more than $11 million from 2007 to 2012, sometimes filing forged documents to support claims.
Swims-King pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud in February 2013. As part of the plea, she admitted to submitting fraudulent charges to the federal healthcare program, including charging for hospice services never provided and for submitting claims with forged signatures of physicians and supposed patients.
Prosecutors said that Powell went door-to-door asking whether residents needed their blood pressure checked. The hospice then used their information to bill Medicare for services, prosecutors said.
In one example, authorities said the hospice billed thousands of dollars on behalf of someone who did not need hospice care and was healthy enough to walk several miles a day.
Swims-King was first charged in June 2013 on a 37-count indictment.
The proceeds from the fraudulent claims went to support Swims-King’s opulent lifestyle. At the time of her arrest, the Associated Press reported that she owned at least 20 cars, including a $92,000 Jaguar, a Lexus and a BMW.
As part of her sentence, Swims-King was ordered to forfeit 17 of those vehicles — valued at over $600,000 — as well as 12 pieces of real estate worth at least $700,000. A federal judge also ordered Swims-King to pay nearly $8 million in restitution to the Medicare program.
In a statement, Felicia C. Adams, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi, said that her office “is working aggressively to pursue unscrupulous health care providers who commit fraudulent acts and bring them to justice. (Powell’s) sentence insures that these illegal practices will not be tolerated and fraudsters will be punished.”
The investigation into the fraud was conducted by agents from the federal Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office.
• Contact Bryn Stole at 581-7235 or bstole@gwcommonwealth.com.
