Shawnee man indicted on health care fraud

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A Shawnee man whose company operated nursing homes in Oklahoma has been accused of health care fraud.<br/><br/>The US Attorney's Office in Oklahoma City says a federal grand jury

Wednesday, November 3rd 2004, 10:54 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A Shawnee man whose company operated nursing homes in Oklahoma has been accused of health care fraud.

The US Attorney's Office in Oklahoma City says a federal grand jury indicted Ricky Lynn Cooper on 53 counts.

Cooper is accused of defrauding the Medicare and Medicaid systems by misrepresenting the financial integrity of his HIS Nursing Home Company to the state Health Department when he applied for nursing home licenses and certificates of need to operate the facilities.

The company operated a home in Tuttle, two in Lawton, one in Temple and one in Grandfield.

Prosecutors say the alleged fraud resulted in a more than $227,000 loss to the Medicare system and a loss of more than $5.4-million to the Medicaid system.