The former vice president of marketing and co-founder of a shuttered hospice company has reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors for his role in a $60 million health-care fraud scheme.
Samuel D. Anderson has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, according to court documents. Anderson was one of the co-founders of Novus Health Services and Optim Health Services, which essentially operated as one company with the same employees and an office in Frisco.
He is the seventh defendant in the criminal case to reach a plea deal. Nine others are tentatively set to go to trial in federal district court next year.
They are accused of defrauding the government of more than $60 million by submitting false claims for hospice services to Medicare and Medicaid, recruiting people who were ineligible for hospice care and falsifying and destroying documents. In some cases, investigators allege, patients got high doses of medication to hasten their deaths.
Before closing, Novus was considered one of the largest hospice companies in North Texas, with patients spread over 20 counties including Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton.
Anderson worked for Novus from May 2012 to October 2015. According to court documents, he and others would recruit doctors to refer patients for hospice care in exchange for medical director salaries. Anderson also arranged to pay for certified nursing assistants to work at assisted living facilities in exchange for patient referrals, documents show.
Anderson is expected to provide information and testify about his participation in the crimes as the investigation continues. He faces up to five years in federal prison.
In a hearing Tuesday, defendant Slade C. Brown pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health-care fraud for his role in the scheme. Brown was Novus' marketing director, tasked with advertising the company's services to patients, doctors and assisted living facilities.
Brown reported to Anderson at Novus, according to court documents. Both men also reported to Novus CEO Bradley Harris.
