Press Release
☷North Canton Radiology Business Owner Convicted at Trial of $2 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme
Federal Bureau of Investigation ( By Press Release office)
Apr 28,2022
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North Canton Radiology Business Owner Convicted at Trial of $2 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme Acting U . S . Attorney Michelle M . Baeppler announced that a federal jury returned guilty verdicts today against Defendant Thomas G . O’Lear , 57 , of North Canton , following a five - day trial before Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland . O’Lear was convicted of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid out of approximately $2 million by billing for x - ray related services that his company , Portable Radiology Services , did not provide , for making false statements to cover up the fraud and for committing aggravated identity theft . According to court documents and evidence presented at trial , O’Lear was President of Portable Radiology Services ( PRS ) , a company that provided portable x - ray - related services to individuals residing in nursing homes , skilled nursing facilities and long - term care facilities . Beginning in January 2013 through December 2017 , O’Lear submitted false claims for reimbursement to Medicare , Medicaid and Medicaid Managed Care Organizations ( MCOs ) for services that he and his business did not provide , including for approximately 151 x - ray services purportedly provided to patients on dates after the patients had died . Evidence also proved that O’Lear billed Medicare and Medicaid for purportedly having provided x - ray - related services to beneficiaries at nursing facilities on dates when the beneficiaries were hospitalized and not at the facilities; billed falsely claiming that x - ray services were performed on various dates , requiring separate reimbursement for transportation on each date; and billed one x - ray image as multiple images thereby requiring a greater reimbursement . The jury also found that when O’Lear was audited by a Medicaid MCO , he covered up the scheme and committed aggravated identity theft by creating false medical records and forging the signatures of others , including a doctor . As a result of the scheme , court documents state that O’Lear fraudulently billed Medicare , Medicaid and Medicaid MCOs approximately $3 . 7 million in claims , and received approximately $2 million in payments . O’Lear is scheduled to be sentenced on August 2 , 2022 . Each of the health care fraud counts carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison . The false statements relating to a health care matter counts carries a 5 - year maximum sentence , and the aggravated identity theft counts carry a mandatory minimum of two years in prison , which must be served consecutive to any sentence imposed by the Court on the other charges . This case was investigated by the United States Department of Health and Human Services , Office of the Inspector General , the FBI and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and the Ohio Attorney General’s Healthcare Fraud Section . This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U . S . Attorneys Brendan O’Shea and Elliot Morrison .
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