by Andrew Murray | November 13th, 2019
On November 5, 2019, North Carolina’s Attorney General made the announcement. The defendant, Tony Taylor, pleaded guilty to tax evasion and healthcare fraud conspiracy in relation to the scheme. The Press Release states:
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Taylor and his brother, Jerry Lewis Taylor, owned and/or operated several outpatient behavioral health services companies for at-risk youth in North Carolina and other states. In North Carolina, the brothers’ companies included Taylor Behavioral Health Center LLC and Options Drive LLC in Monroe, Design for Change in Raleigh, and SHG Consultants Inc. in Gastonia.
From June 2015 to December 2017, Taylor conspired with his brother and others to submit fraudulent reimbursement claims to the Medicaid program for services that were either never provided or misrepresented the actual services provided in order to increase the reimbursement amount received. Taylor recruited other co-conspirators to participate in the scheme and obtained prospective patient lists with individuals’ Medicaid information to submit the fraudulent claims. The Taylor brothers received approximately $6.1 million in reimbursements from the Medicaid program through their scheme.
Taylor also failed to file the appropriate tax return forms after receiving and depositing more than $4.1 million in Medicaid reimbursements to his bank accounts and admitted to taking steps to willfully evade income tax obligations.
Jerry Lewis Taylor pleaded guilty to health care fraud conspiracy and tax evasion in June and is currently awaiting sentencing. Three other defendants have also been charged in connection with the scheme.
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