Two acknowledge involvement in Medicare fraud case

Saturday, January 14th 2006, 10:39 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The owner of two Oklahoma home health agencies and his Oklahoma City attorney could be headed to prison after acknowledging their roles in defrauding Medicare out of more than $2.7 million.

Floyd W. Seibert pleaded guilty Thursday to submitting fraudulent Medicare claims to an intermediary in Iowa, which is how he and attorney James E. Golden Jr. ended up facing charges in federal court there.

Golden, 50, could lose his license to practice law because of the conviction, Oklahoma Bar Association officials said. He is an active member in good standing.

Golden pleaded guilty last month in federal court in Des Moines, Iowa, to helping Seibert defraud Medicare between May 1996 and June 2001.

Golden acknowledged writing letters to conceal fraudulent loans among several Oklahoma and Texas companies owned by Seibert, who operated some of them under the alias Martin Mesquite.

He had been prepared to testify against Seibert, according to his plea agreement, until the other man pleaded guilty to health care fraud this week.

Seibert, 59, owned Central Oklahoma Care at Home Inc. in Oklahoma City and Central Texas Home Health Services Inc. in San Antonio, according to court papers. He also owned or controlled another Oklahoma home health agency, Extended Care Services of Oklahoma, but concealed that relationship to further his schemes.

He loaned money from his companies' pension plans to other companies he controlled, then billed Medicare for interest payments on the loans, court papers state.

Golden prepared paperwork to document those loans in an attempt to make them look legitimate, according to court papers.

Seibert also purchased supplies for his home health agencies from Western Medical Supplies and Equipment_ another company under his control_ at inflated rates, passing the cost along to Medicare, court documents state.

He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He also must pay restitution.

Golden faces up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The two men will be sentenced in a few months.