LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) – The owner of an Acadiana hospice care facility has been convicted of defrauding Medicare of over $1.5 million, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A federal jury returned a guilty verdict against Kristal Glover-Wing, 50, of Broussard, for one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and three counts of health care fraud following a trial that lasted nearly four weeks.
United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown said Dr. Gary M. Wiltz and Dr. Charles H. Louis were each acquitted on their charges in the indictment. Judge Robert R. Summerhays presided over the trial.
“Krystal Glover-Wing defrauded the government and we thank the jury for holding her accountable. We will now move forward to her sentencing hearing,” Brown said. “I thank the trial team and investigators for staying the course throughout years of investigating and a hard-fought trial.”
Glover-Wing was the owner of Angel Care Hospice, a Louisiana corporation that purported to provide hospice services in Lafayette Parish and other parishes in the Western District of Louisiana. Prosecutors said from approximately 2009 through 2017, over 24 patients were placed on hospice by Angel Care without meeting the criteria required by Medicare. During the time period that the patients were on hospice and under the care and supervision of Angel Care, none of them had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. In fact, many of the patients themselves, who are still alive and thriving many years later, as well as family members of other patients, testified that they never knew that they had been placed on hospice.
The testimony revealed that while on hospice care, many of the patients were living normal lives and although most of them did have medical conditions, none had been diagnosed as being terminally ill. The fraudulent claims submitted to Medicare and reimbursed to Angel Care resulted in a loss of $1,539,161.10 to Medicare.
“Whenever Medicare providers are motivated by greed, our most vulnerable citizens, the elderly, are put at risk,” said Jeff Richards of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG agents will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to investigate providers who loot the Medicare Trust Fund.”
Glover-Wing faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison on the conspiracy to commit health care fraud charge, up to 10 years in prison on the health care fraud charges, 3 years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
