Yes.  Every state, including New York, has laws that punish false insurance claims, which is a form of fraud.  False insurance claims include exaggerating a legitimate claim, falsifying an injury for the purposes of making a claim and staging an accident to obtain a payment greater than the damage caused by the accident.

Since these schemes typically involve multiple participants working in concert to make the false claim seem legitimate, charges will also be brought against these individuals depending on their involvement in the scheme.  This includes acting as an accessory to staging the claim, forging medical or other paperwork or formulating a conspiracy to commit fraud.

Healthcare fraud can also be a federal crime, depending on the insurance program that is defrauded or if the fraud takes place across multiple states.  The anti-health care fraud statue is covered in Title 18, Part I, Chapter 63, § 1347 of the US legal code.  Those that violate this statute will face up to 10 years in prison, 20 years if the scheme involves serious bodily injury.

You may even face life imprisonment if a person is killed due to the scheme.

If you have been the participant in a health care fraud scheme or have had a legitimate claim investigated by the government in New York, you should contact our New York criminal lawyers for an immediate consultation.

Contact us without delay at (212) 577-6677.

Medical brochures, subway ads, and now the social media, healthcare providers are delving into their patients’ trends and lifestyles to keep their markets growing; this is marketing 101.

But as effective as they see turnovers from these new marketing strategies, so too, are Medical providers encountering questions about the marginal lines of engaging their audience and exposing their facility and services, and of possible violations of New York State and Federal regulations.

Whether you are posting your patients’ before and after photos over your clinic’s website or blogging about their specific medical conditions and treatment over the clinic’s Facebook page, as a covered entity, you generally must obtain an authorization for to use or disclose protected health information for marketing.

Moreover, you must meet both the federal and state conditions that govern physician advertising in New York. A violation of either these rules may be sufficient enough for professional disciple.

Physician advertising in New York is regulated by New York State Education Law, or more specifically: N.Y. Education Law 6530(2). Although most advertising interests is permitted, the NYS Education Law disallows advertising or soliciting information that is “not in the public interest.” Any such advertisement that is interpreted to be such is deemed to be professional misconduct. For example, advertisements that are “false, fraudulent, deceptive, misleading, sensational, or flamboyant” fall within that category of “not in the public interest.”

In federal law, physician advertising is not regulated by any particular rule, but problems regarding HIPAA violations (patient confidentiality) are constantly an issue in physician advertising. Authorization from the patient must be granted in order for the physician to start using his/her medical information. Depending on the case at hand, a violation of the HIPAA policy may be more detrimental to the physician’s license than a violation of the N.Y. Education Law 6530(2).

If you are a healthcare provider investigated for any professional misconduct in Long Island. call our Long Island and New York professional license defense lawyers at 516.204.7611.

While making false statements is a widely prosecuted federal crime in a variety of circumstances, making false statements in connection with a financial transaction with a bank or another financial organization has a separate set of required elements.

In cases where defendants are charged with making false statements in a bank transaction, the government must prove the following:  (1) the defendant made a false statement or willfully overvalued property or security knowing that it was false, (2) that the defendant did it in order to influence a decision (3) of the enumerated agencies and organizations.

It doesn’t really matter whether the plan to defraud succeeded and it doesn’t matter whether the bank suffered any damages. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York held that it was no defense that the false statements inflating the amount of the mortgage claim didn’t help in securing mortgage. The only thing that mattered was that the false statements were made for the purpose of influencing the lending institution’s decision.

If you are investigated for bank fraud or mortgage fraud in Long Island, call our Long Island mortgage fraud federal defense attorneys at (516) 2047611 today to discuss your case.

While talking to federal agents should always be avoided (from a defense side position, excluding some situations), more often than not people do speak with law enforcement. Sometimes statements are made voluntarily and sometimes in response to questions by the agents. What is always true is that lying to federal agents is a federal crime, which could be prosecuted under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (the false statements statute).

If an FBI agent asks you whether you committed a crime and you deny (falsely), you are not likely to be prosecuted under the statute. Even if federal prosecutors file charges, most courts would not consider such a statement a lie. However, in some situations, especially when you make voluntary statements to authorities, such denial could result in prosecution for lying to investigators. On the other hand, lie to an agent in a routine questioning (think customs or immigration officers) or on a government benefit application, and you will be prosecuted for lying and making false statements.

 If you are under criminal investigation in Long Island, call our Long Island criminal attorneys today at 516.204.7611 to discuss y our case.