Judge Sentences Ambulance Company Owner to More Than Five Years in Prison |
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Topics: Brotherly Love Ambulance
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U.S. Attorney’s Office
6 November 2014
PHILADELPHIA—Feda Kuran, 39, of Philadelphia, PA, was sentenced today to 64 months in prison for a healthcare fraud scheme involving Brotherly Love Ambulance, Inc. Kuran founded Brotherly Love Ambulance, Inc. and was its president. The defendant pleaded guilty April 17, 2014 to healthcare fraud and paying kickbacks in violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Act.
Through Brotherly Love, Kuran transported patients who were able to walk and could travel safely by means other than ambulance and who, therefore, were not eligible for ambulance transportation under Medicare requirements. Kuran, and others acting on her behalf, falsified reports to make it appear that the patients needed to be transported by ambulance when she knew that the patients could be transported safely by other means and, in fact, many of them could walk. The defendant billed Medicare for those ambulance services as if they were medically necessary when she knew that they were not. In addition, Kuran, and others acting at her direction, paid kickbacks to patients to ensure that they would use Brotherly Love Ambulance for services which were not medically necessary. Under Kuran’s direction, the company also submitted claims to Medicare for ambulance services for patients who were not transported by ambulance, but instead were transported in private vehicles or drove themselves to their destinations. After becoming aware of the investigation of her company, Kuran also sold patient lists to other ambulance companies so that those companies could continue the fraud. As a result of the fraudulent billing orchestrated by Kuran, the Medicare program paid more than $2 million for fraudulent claims from Brotherly Love.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge William H. Yohn, Jr. ordered Kuran to pay $2,015,712.52 in restitution to Medicare and a special assessment of $200. He also ordered three years of supervised release. The Court also entered a money judgment against the defendant for $2,015,712.52.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew J.D. Hogan and Paul W. Kaufman.