(CBS-DETROIT) – A 71-year-old Oakland County woman has been convicted for her role in a health care kickback scheme that cost Medicare more than $1.4 million, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Mary Smettler-Bolton was convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and receive illegal health care kickbacks, and one count of violating the federal Anti-Kickback Statute.
According to federal officials, Smettler-Bolton referred Medicare recipients to several home health care companies in Metro Detroit. In return, she would receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks paid by the companies’ owners.
Smettler-Bolton and her co-conspirators caused Medicare to lose more than $1.4 million in four years.
She will be sentenced on March 3. The Justice Department says she could face up to 15 years in prison.
The Justice Department says the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, which is working on the case, has charged more than 5,400 defendants accused of billing federal health care programs and private insurers more than $27 billion.