BY: STAFF REPORT | BocaNewsNow.com
PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2023 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — Palm Beach County resident Patrick Smith, the former CEO of Patient Care America — known as PCA — entered a guilty plea on a health care fraud charge filed against him by the United States Department of Justice. The following is the official statement issued to BocaNewsNow.com by the DOJ.
Patrick Smith, 71, of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, the former CEO of Patient Care America (PCA), a compounding pharmacy located in Broward County, pled guilty today to one count of lying to federal agents who were investigating PCA for various health care fraud offenses.
According to court records, Smith admitted that in March of 2020 he voluntarily met with DCIS agents who were investigating PCA on allegations of health care fraud and payment of illegal kickbacks. During that interview, Smith lied to agents about his role in hiring the marketing groups who were paid by PCA to recruit Tricare patients. Smith claimed that he played no role in vetting the marketing groups, when in fact documents and witness testimony establish that he frequently met with the marketing groups and decided which to hire and on what terms. PCA paid over $40 million in kickbacks to the marketers. To date, a dozen of PCA’s marketers have been convicted and sentenced to prison terms of up to 13 years for their roles in the scheme.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe of the Southern District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge Darrin K. Jones of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Southern Field Office, made the announcement.
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Patrick Smith faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The Court has not set a date for sentencing yet.
DCIS investigated the case, with assistance from the Veterans Affairs-Office of Inspector General, the Food and Drug Administration-Office of Criminal Investigation, and FBI Miami. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jon Juenger is prosecuting the case.
