Michigan Podiatrist Clipped on Fraud Charges

Over $1 million worth of toenail clippings? No thanks! And no, this is not a tourist trap museum full of toenail sculptures, or someone’s attempt to buy celebrity trash; it is part of a new insurance fraud case for the FBI.

According to United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade and a press release from her office,  Dr. Richard Alan Behnan, 55, has pled guilty to a federal indictment that charges him with Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud.

Behnan used to be a traveling podiatrist who provided services at various senior centers and assisted living facilities in several cities in Michigan, including Bay City, Flint, Detroit, and Lansing. Behnan and his co-defendant, Kelly Morel, provided routine foot care to patients consisting primarily of toenail trimming. The two routinely billed these services to health insurance companies, including Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM), as a surgical procedure called “nail avulsion.” A nail avulsion is a surgical procedure used to treat ingrown toenails in which the nail, or portion of the nail, is removed from the nail bed below.

The investigation not only revealed that patients never actually received nail avulsion procedures from Behnan or Morel, but that Behnan and Morel billed Medicare for procedures that were said to be performed while Behnan wasn’t even in the United States. As a result of all their nail avulsion claims from September of 2000 to December of 2010, Behnan and Morel received $1,624,089.66 from Medicare and BCBSM.

After four days of trial, back on May 26, 2011, Morel, 49, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit health care fraud along with Behnan and eleven substantive counts of health care fraud.

United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade stated, “Health care providers should be on notice that the federal government is scrutinizing billings and will prosecute fraud aggressively. The public deserves to have our health care dollars spent responsibly.”

Behnan was scheduled to be sentenced on February 23^rd where he faces a maximum term of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.