United States v. Medical Therapy Sciences,

583 F.2d 36 (1978)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Berman (D1) and his Connecticut company Medical Therapy (D) were convicted of filing false claims for Medicare payments and related charges. Proof at trial suggested that D1 has devised scheme to obtain payment from insurance carriers in Connecticut and New York using D and its New York branch to double bill for the same patients and to charge for more expensive equipment than was provided and for supplied neither delivered nor needed. Russell, a trusted employee and personal intimate of D1 was an unindicted co-conspirator who testified for the government. Russell supervised most of the billing and testified that she and D1 often discussed the applicable rules and knew that they were obtaining funds to which they were not entitled. D1 was convicted and appealed; the trial judge erred in permitting the prosecutor to call a character witness to bolster Russell's credibility as D1 claimed that Russell alone perpetrated the frauds.