Medical Practice Pleads Guilty To Health Care Fraud
Kannapolis Physician Assistant Faces Up to Ten Years
Greensboro, NC – Anna Mills Wagoner, United States Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina, announced today that CANNON FAMILY MEDICINE, INC., of Kannapolis, North Carolina, and its President, CHRISTOPHER J. CAGGIANO, plead guilty to four counts of health care fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1347.
The charges against CANNON FAMILY MEDICINE, INC. allege that the practice submitted false claims to private health insurance companies as well as false claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and federal employee health programs. The pleas took place in Greensboro on October 8, 2008, before the Honorable Judge William L. Osteen, Jr.
Each health care fraud count carries a maximum possible penalty of ten (10) years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years supervised release. The medical practice and CAGGIANO, a physician assistant, will be sentenced on February 11, 2009.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, North Carolina Medicaid Fraud Unit, the North Carolina Department of Insurance, and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Office of Inspector General.
