Bell Nunnally Partner Jeffrey J. Ansley is quoted in the D Magazine article titled “Federal “Crusade” in $100 Million Fraud Case Ends in Mixed Verdicts.” The piece dissects the late 2019 outcome of a federal health care fraud investigation centered in North Texas involving accusations alleging that fraudulent actions, including illegal kickbacks, caused TRICARE – a military service member and beneficiary health care program – to incur “more than $100 million in actual losses” during a period stretching from May 2014 to February 2016. Ansley and Associate Arianna G. Goodman represented defendant Steven Bernard Kuper in the matter, securing for a full acquittal.

Reflecting on the government’s mixed results in the matter, Ansley noted, “The government’s crusade to root out health care fraud and abuse has, at times, including in this instance, simply swept up too broad a range of individuals and businesses – at great operational and reputational cost.”

Kuper’s experience greatly affected his professional and personal life said Ansley, “When the government doesn’t thoroughly investigate, the result is that our client is inappropriately prosecuted, excoriated at times. The verdict came years after being drug through the mud and being prosecuted at the federal level…. He is as guilty as you or I, but his life has been turned completely upside down.”

The prosecution and of, ultimately innocent, individuals like Kuper has a chilling effect on medical professionals, “It is a cautionary tale for [Kuper] and other medical professionals. You can operate completely in your area of operations and still face an indictment,” commented Ansley.

To read the full article, please click here.