Jury finds Columbus doctor defrauded state of $1.5M
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A Columbus doctor was found guilty Thursday for defrauding Medicaid of around $1.5 million.
Dr. Robert Florea and his company, Buckeye Health and Research, were convicted by a jury of one count each of Medicaid fraud, a third-degree felony. Florea was originally indicted in December 2022.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit found Florea, through his clinic on Highview Boulevard, billed the Ohio Department of Medicaid for medical equipment he never purchased, including braces for joints and back pain. In total, Florea claimed he bought more than 5,100 pieces of equipment during a three-year period, but only purchased 460, according to the attorney general’s office.
Florea’s sentencing date hasn’t been scheduled.