COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A former doctor was sentenced to two years in prison after bilking Medicaid for $1.5 million.
Robert Florea, 49, was sentenced this week after being convicted in October of one count of Medicaid fraud, a third-degree felony. Florea’s clinic, Buckeye Health and Research, was found guilty of the same crime.
In addition to the prison term, Florea and the clinic must pay $1.5 million in restitution and court costs.
According to Ohio Attorney General David Yost, Florea used the clinic to bill the Ohio Department of Medicaid for medical equipment that he didn’t purchase, claiming reimbursement for more than 5,100 pieces of equipment, including braces for joints and back pain, over a three-year period. According to Yost, the clinic only bought 460 pieces of equipment.
Florea permanently surrendered his physician’s license at the beginning of the year, Yost said.
