Jury Finds Doctor Guilty Of $1M Medicare Scam

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a Los Angeles doctor has been convicted for health care fraud after submitting about $1 million in bills for tests that were never performed on patients.

U.S. attorney's spokesman Thom Mrozek said Wednesday that a federal jury convicted Dr. Owusu Ananeh Firempong of five counts of health care fraud following a four-day trial.

Prosecutors presented evidence that Firempong used information about Medicare beneficiaries who weren't his patients to bill Medicare for sleep studies and nerve conduction tests that were never performed, netting nearly $700,000.

The 61-year-old is already serving a 27-year prison sentence for an unrelated cocaine trafficking and money laundering case. That case is under appeal.

Firempong faces sentencing December 10.

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