Doctor Sentenced for Health Care Fraud and Money Laundering
GREENSBORO – A doctor from Mt. Airy, North Carolina was sentenced to 30 months of imprisonment and ordered to pay restitution totaling $2,049,747.47 after pleading guilty to one count of health care fraud and one count of money laundering, announced Acting United States Attorney Randall S. Galyon of the Middle District of North Carolina (MDNC).
WENDELL LEWIS RANDALL, age 72, was sentenced to a 30-month term of imprisonment plus 2 years supervised release by the Honorable Catherine C. Eagles, Senior United States District Judge in the United States District Court for the MDNC. This sentence is ordered to run consecutively to the 18-month sentence RANDALL is currently serving for a conviction in the Western District of Virginia.
According to court records, RANDALL was the sole physician and owner of the National Institute of Toxicology, PLLC (NIT), located in Mt. Airy, NC. At NIT, RANDALL typically prescribed opioids or other controlled substances to his patients without regard to whether such prescriptions were medically indicated. RANDALL then required his patients to submit to definitive urine drug tests (UDT) on every office visit without regard to the medical necessity of such tests. NIT had an in-house laboratory to run the UDT. From August 2018 through December 2021, RANDALL, through NIT, billed Medicare and North Carolina Medicaid for the UDT that reimbursed at the highest pay for nearly all of his patients on Medicare and Medicaid. RANDALL obtained $753,446.70 from Medicare and $1,296,300.77 from Medicaid for these fraudulently billed UDT.
RANDALL used the fraudulently obtained proceeds to make several large purchases, including a building on property near his home in 2019 for a total of $97,000.
“This case represents the continued commitment of the DEA to identify and hold accountable those who engaged in fraud and money laundering,” said Jae W. Chung, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division.
“RANDALL abused his position as a medical provider to gain excessive profit from government-funded insurance programs,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Galyon. “This Office will continue to seek out fraud and abuse perpetrated on our health insurance system and hold those responsible accountable.”
“Physicians and other providers who authorize medically unnecessary drugs and services undermine the integrity of our health care system, waste taxpayer dollars, and endanger patients,” said Kelly Blackmon, Special Agent in Charge at the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “Today’s sentencing is a clear reminder that those who exploit our nation’s health care system at the expense of patients and taxpayers will be held accountable.”
“Fraud schemes harm everyone, especially those which defraud the healthcare system, the American taxpayer, and members of our community,” Special Agent in Charge Donald “Trey” Eakins, Charlotte Field Office, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. “IRS-CI special agents’ forensic accounting skills helped unravel this complex fraud and money laundering scheme while working alongside other federal, state, and local law enforcement officers.”
“This health care provider stole taxpayer dollars for his own profit while he worsened our state’s opioid crisis,” said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. “Doctors have a legal and ethical responsibility to provide the quality health care that patients need. When they don’t, our office and our federal and state partners will hold them accountable.”
The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Charlotte Tactical Diversion Squad and the Greensboro Diversion Group; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General; the Internal Revenue Service; the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office, Medicaid Investigations Division; and the North Carolina Department of Insurance. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca Mayer and Special Assistant United States Attorney Dan Spillman.
The DEA encourages parents, along with their children, to educate themselves about the dangers of legal and illegal drugs by visiting DEA’s interactive websites at www.JustThinkTwice.com, www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com, www.CampusDrugPrevention.gov, and www.dea.gov . Also follow DEA Atlanta via X and Instagram at @DEAATLANTADiv.
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