Edwardsville woman pleads guilty to healthcare fraud and money laundering

EAST ST. LOUIS - James L. Porter, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today, that Bridget Brasfield, 45, of Edwardsville, Illinois, pled guilty to a two-count information charging Health Care Fraud and Money Laundering. Sentencing has been set for August 30, 2016, in U.S. District Court in Benton, Illinois. At that time Brasfield will face up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $500,000, and up to 3 years of supervised release.

During her plea hearing, Brasfield, who was a chiropractic physician licensed in Illinois, who practiced in Granite City, admitted that between January of 2011 and January of 2014, she submitted approximately $500,000 in false and fraudulent bills to various health care benefit plans. The fraudulent submissions to Medicaid, Medicare, Tricare, Federal Employees Health Benefit Program, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois and Coventry Insurance claimed that a medical doctor had provided services to patients at her Granite City office when in fact the doctor was out of the country when the services were claimed to have been provided.

Brasfield also admitted that she had engaged in a financial transaction that involved criminally derived proceeds from her health care fraud. The specific transaction involved $12,000 in criminally derived funds that she transferred in violation of federal money laundering statutes.

The investigation was conducted by the Southern Illinois Health Care Fraud Task Force with active investigations by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General, the Illinois State Police -Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Office of the Inspector General, the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General – Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration and the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, Office of Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ranley R. Killian and Scott A. Verseman.

If you suspect or know of an individual or company that is not complying with healthcare laws or public aid programs, you may report this activity to the local office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, or you may call 1-800-447-8477.

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