OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. (CBS Detroit) — Mary Smettler-Bolton, a 71-year-old woman from Oakland County, has been convicted for her involvement in a health care kickback scheme that caused Medicare to lose over $1.4 million. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Smettler-Bolton was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States and violating the federal Anti-Kickback Statute.
Federal officials say Smettler-Bolton referred Medicare recipients to several home health care companies in the Metro Detroit area. In return, she received hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal kickbacks paid by the owners of those companies. Over a period of four years, Smettler-Bolton and her co-conspirators caused Medicare to suffer significant financial losses, amounting to over $1.4 million.
Smettler-Bolton is scheduled for sentencing on March 3, where she could face up to 15 years in prison. The U.S. Department of Justice has also noted that its Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program—the team handling this case—has charged over 5,400 defendants in connection with schemes that defrauded federal health care programs and private insurers, totaling over $27 billion in fraudulent claims.
