CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – A Charlotte man was sentenced Tuesday to more than 16 years in prison for his role in defrauding the state Medicaid program out of $11 million.
Booker was accused of conducting medically unnecessary urine drug testing for a housing program, and paying recruiters for it a kickback from Medicaid reimbursements. On Jan. 10, a federal jury convicted 57-year-old Donald Booker of:
- Conspiracy to commit health care fraud,
- Multiple violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute,
- Money laundering conspiracy and
- Money laundering.
In addition to the prison term imposed, Booker was also ordered to pay nearly $12 million in restitution to the N.C. Medicaid program and to pay a $1,000 special assessment.
On Dec. 9, 2022, co-defendant Delores Jordan of Kentucky pleaded guilty for her role in the fraudulent scheme. She has pleaded guilty to health care fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy and is awaiting sentencing.
“Medicaid is a government-funded program that provides medical services to qualified North Carolinians in need of assistance. It’s not a get-rich-quick money jar for cheats and fraudsters to dip into,” said U.S. Attorney Dena King of the Western District. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will hold accountable those who engage in schemes that defraud government programs and deprive important resources from those in real need.”
According to filed court documents, evidence presented at Booker’s trial and witness testimony, Booker owned United Diagnostic Laboratories (UDL), a urine toxicology testing laboratory, and United Youth Care Services (UYCS), a company that provided mental health and substance abuse treatment services. Jordan owned Legacy Housing, a housing provider.
Trial evidence established that, from January 2016 to August 2019, Booker and his co-conspirators executed a conspiracy to defraud the Medicaid program by paying illegal kickbacks to Jordan and other co-conspirators in exchange for urine samples from Medicaid-eligible beneficiaries.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Graham Billings and Michael Savage of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.
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