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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2007 - Grand Rapids, Michigan – U.S. Attorney Charles R. Gross announced the sentencing of Dr. Robert W. Stokes, D.O., age 55, East Grand Rapids, Michigan, to a term of 126 months’ imprisonment on 31 counts of health care fraud. Following testimony from nine witnesses at the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Gordon J. Quist also sentenced Dr. Stokes to pay $175,000 in fines, $3,100 in special assessments, and to serve 36 months of supervised release following his release from prison. The court determined that the amount of the fraud loss exceeded $1,000,000. A hearing on the issue of restitution was deferred to a later date. Bond was continued pending the designation of a reporting date.
Dr. Stokes, a licensed, board-certified dermatologist, was convicted on April 26, 2007, following a week long trial by jury. The investigation began when federal agents obtained information from complaints and audits by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) and Medicare concerning the billing practices of Dr. Stokes. A federal grand jury investigation revealed that Dr. Stokes was “up-coding,” that is, billing for procedures that netted a higher level of reimbursement than the procedures he was actually performing. Specifically, Dr. Stokes was “up-coding” surgical procedures and billing for follow-up office visits for which he was not entitled to reimbursement. He justified these unnecessary office visits by falsely claiming that the patients had developed post-operative infections.
The prosecution of this case resulted from a joint investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The investigation team included FBI Special Agent Dave Kleinpaste and HHS Special Agent Mark Squeteri. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ray Beckering and Ron Stella. |
