Fraud investigation lands New Orleans doctor in prison

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — A New Orleans chiropractor has been sentenced to prison as the result of a health care scheme.

According to documents filed with the Office of Public Affairs, 40-year-old Dr. Benjamin Tekippe was ordered to serve a seven year sentence for his role in health care fraud and unemployment insurance fraud schemes.

Tekippe was the owner of Metairie Chiropractic & Rehab in New Orleans. Documents state Tekippe reportedly solicited patients with Blue Cross Blue Blue Shield of Louisiana Insurance (BCBSLA) to visit the clinic by misleadingly offering them “free” chiropractic massages.

It was noted that Tekippe billed the patients’ insurance for a full-body massage performed by a massage therapist, which is not covered. Additionally, the patients were also billed for chiropractic services that were not performed or not performed as billed.

This included thousands of false and fraudulent claims for chiropractic services he allegedly provided while out of the office or on vacation in Aruba and while incarcerated in Arizona and Washington in connection with state charges, according to court documents.

An audit done by BCBSLA officials revealed that not only did Tekippe fabricate patient records, he reportedly told his team to rewrite them in their handwriting to falsely appear that services had been performed as billed.

In total, Tekippe submitted over $2.3 million in claims to BCBSLA and was paid about $740,000 which was spent on luxury good and gambling including $90,000 spent at Harrah’s Casino.

It was also noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tekippe submitted weekly claims of unemployment ultimately receiving $12,952 in benefits.

In April, Tekippe was convicted on six charges of health care fraud and one charge of wire fraud. Also with the seven years, he will be ordered to pay $753,794.36 in restitution.

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