Louisiana chiropractor used $2.3M healthcare and insurance fraud to fund gambling habit

A Louisiana chiropractor was sentenced to seven years in prison due to an elaborate fraud scheme involving the manipulation of health care and insurance systems, in order to fund his gambling habit.

Benjamin Tekippe, 40, from New Orleans, was held to account after his actions were discovered during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The owner of Metairie Chiropractic & Rehab defrauded Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana (BCBSLA) out of approximately $740,000 by submitting over $2.3 million in false and inflated claims for chiropractic services that were either never performed or not provided as billed. 

As detailed by the Department of Justice, Tekippe used the illicit money to fund a spiralling gambling habit, including over $90,000 spent at Harrah’s Casino in New Orleans, while he also left a trail of lavish spending, including luxury holidays and high-end items. 

https://twitter.com/FBINewOrleans/status/1966573833080492041/

It appeared that once he started, the situation got deeper and deeper, to the extent of the $2.3 million claims, while various services were costed that were never carried out. 

This included procedures such as electrical stimulation and mechanical traction that were over-exaggerated or simply not performed.

The Louisiana chiropractor even continued to bill for services when he was enjoying the scenery on holiday in Aruba, as amazingly, while being held in Arizona and Washington on unrelated state charges.

Tekippe was known to law enforcement agencies, with a string of nine arrests on his record from 2002 to 2019. 

Unfortunately, these charges were not disclosed to the Louisiana Board of Chiropractic Examiners, meaning that he violated professional standards.

Tekippe claimed pandemic unemployment benefits while billing for patient services

A multi-agency probe led by the FBI and U.S. Department of Health soon brought the Louisiana chiropractor to book, uncovering various misdemeanors and failings that ultimately led to his sentence. 

The investigation found Tekippe was covering his tracks when BCBSLA auditors requested medical records, with fake documents used and staff asked to manipulate dates to legitimise the fraud. 

During the pandemic, when the clinic was supposedly closed, he claimed $12, 952 in unemployment benefits while simultaneously billing for significant patient services. 

In April this year, a federal jury in the Eastern District of Louisiana convicted Benjamin Tekippe on six counts of health care fraud and one count of wire fraud, leading to a further development in recent days.  

That was on Friday, September 12, when U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan sentenced the Louisiana chiropractor to seven years in federal prison, with a further three years on supervised release. 

Tekippe was also ordered to pay a $753,794.36 settlement to BCBSLA.

Also in the Pelican State, the Louisiana Department of Revenue opened a lawsuit against Virtual Gaming Worlds Holdings and MW Services (trading as WOW Vegas), seeking almost $44 million in unpaid state taxes and penalties.

Image credit: FBI

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