Mechanicsburg Doctor And Owner Of Two Medical Facilities Pleads Guilty In Federal Court

     The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a Mechanicsburg doctor and owner of two Central Pennsylvania medical facilities pleaded guilty today in federal court in Harrisburg before U.S. District Judge Christopher C. Conner.

     According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, Dr. Timothy Clark, age 44, is a medical doctor and pulmonologist and the sole owner of Central Pennsylvania Pulmonary Associates(CPPA) and Sleep Disorder Centers of Central Pennsylvania. In June 2012 and again in July, Clark was indicted by a federal grand jury in Harrisburg in separate indictments. 

     In June 2012, Clark was indicted on charges that from July 2010 through December 2011, as the owner of CPPA, and the trustee of the CPPA employee 401(k) Plan, he withheld employee 401(k) contributions and failed to deposit the withheld funds into their 401(k) Plan. Clark instead maintained the employee 401(k) contributions in bank accounts he controlled. Clark’s employees lost approximately $25,000 of their retirement funds.   

     In July 2012, Clark was indicted on charges that from December 2007 through September 26, 2008, Clark, who provided critical care services to patients of Holy Spirit Hospital, intentionally inflated the amount of time the healthcare providers he employed spent with each patient, thereby fraudulently inflating the health insurance claims Clark submitted to Medicare, Highmark, Inc., and Capital Blue Cross.  The dollar amount of the fraudulent claims exceeded $500,000. In the indictment’s six money laundering counts, Clark was charged with transferring approximately $103,000 obtained through the healthcare fraud to CPPA payroll and money market accounts.

     Today, Clark pleaded guilty to embezzlement from an employee benefit plan, executing a scheme to defraud healthcare benefit programs in connection with the delivery and payment of healthcare benefits and money laundering.

     Clark is scheduled for sentencing on July 29, 2013.

     The case involving the embezzlement from an employee benefit plan was investigated by the United States Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, the United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, the United States Department of Health and Human Service, Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

     The case involving the health care fraud and money laundering was investigated by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Insurance Fraud Section; the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

     Both cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joseph J. Terz.