Melgen indicted for health-care fraud in the US; pleads not guilty(Update)

Santo Domingo.- Dominican-born Florida eye doctor Salomon E. Melgen, facing corruption charges with New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez was indicted for health-care fraud Tuesday, as prosecutors allege he cheated the US Medicare program while receiving payments of US$105 million over six years, wsj.com reports.

The outlet said Melgen continued to get payments for much of that time despite scrutiny by US officials, revealing Medicare’s vulnerabilities for the elderly and disabled.

“A federal grand jury indicted Dr. Melgen, a North Palm Beach ophthalmologist, on 46 counts of health-care fraud, alleging among other things that he filed false Medicare claims between 2004 and 2013,” wsj.com reports Tuesday, citing federal prosecutors.

Melgen, 61, earlier this month had pleaded not guilty along with Menendez after being indicted in the corruption case stemming from trips by the lawmaker to the doctor’s villa in an exclusive resort in the Dominican Republic.