BY DANIEL GAITAN | daniel@lifemattersmedia.org

The former owner of Passages Hospice and its director of nursing pled guilty to fraud charges on Friday in Illinois federal court.

Seth Gillman, 47, an attorney and founder of now-shuttered Passages, pled guilty to one count of health care fraud as part of a multi-year scam. The for-profit hospice company is accused of over-billing the government for general inpatient care for patients who did not need it.

Gillman was indicted in May 2014 along with three other Passages employees, including former nursing director Carmen Velez, who also pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, according to legal news service Law360.

Velez, 39, admitted to altering patient records to reflect a need for general inpatient care before the records were handed over to an auditor working on behalf of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Gillman faces up to 10 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines and restitution.

Further Reading:

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