Charges filed in Arizona as part of DOJ crackdown on health care schemes

PHOENIX — Multiple Arizona residents are among the more than 300 people charged in a nationwide “takedown” of health care schemes.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that 324 people, including 96 doctors and other medical professionals, were facing charges as part of various investigations into health care fraud throughout the country. 

Several of the defendants are Arizona residents accused of taking advantage of Medicare or Medicaid programs. 

The defendants include 29-year-old Tyler Kontos of Mesa and 36-year-old Joel Kupetz of Scottsdale, who have been accused of targeting elderly Medicare patients to have “unnecessary and expensive allografts” applied, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Arizona. 

The alleged scheme involved referring patients to Jorge Kinds, a nurse practitioner, who would allegedly receive up to $1,000 for each allograft that was applied. Prosecutors said up to $1 billion in false medical claims were submitted as part of the alleged fraud.

Other Arizona defendants facing charges include:

• Ira Denny, 56, of Surprise is accused of ordering and applying about $209 million in allografts that were “medically unreasonable and unnecessary.”
• Cle’Esther Davenport, 51, of Peoria is accused of receiving about $739,000 in “illegal kickbacks” to refer individuals to an outpatient treatment center.
• Gina Palacios, 40, of Phoenix is accused of ordering and applying $59 million in allografts that were “medically unreasonable and unnecessary.”
• Farrukh Jarar Ali, 41, of Pakistan is accused of submitting about $650 million in “false and fraudulent claims” to the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System and personally receiving $24.5 million as part of the alleged fraud.

RELATED: San Tan Valley woman agrees to pay $55 million for health care fraud

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