Doctor formerly from Selah indicted in federal court in connection with Medicare fraud scam - Yakima Herald-Republic

Federal prosecutors have charged a doctor who used to live in Selah with conspiring to defraud Medicare.

In a 29-page indictment filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Yakima, Dr. David Antonio Becerril was accused of participating in a scheme to falsely bill Medicare for unnecessary genetic tests and medical equipment.

He is charged with five counts of making false statements relating to health care matters, four counts of wire fraud, five counts of health care fraud and one count each of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release, but are subject to federal sentencing guidelines.

Attempts to contact Bercerril, 67, were not successful. His home phone number is not listed, and a message left at the Moses Lake clinic where he now practices was not returned by press time. He also has practiced in Granger and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Becerril is accused of obtaining millions of dollars from the federal health care program for older and disabled people through false prescriptions for genetic tests and items such as back, knee, shoulder and ankle braces, according to the indictment.

The fraud occurred, the indictment said, between February 2018 and September 2019. Prosecutors allege that telemarketers contacted Medicare beneficiaries and obtained their personal information and Medicare numbers, which were then used to file false claims for equipment and testing.

“Becerril’s role in the scheme was to sign the false and fraudulent orders falsely attesting to the medical necessity of the braces and genetic testing for the beneficiaries who he had never met, and did not treat, in order to make it appear as though the braces and genetic testing were medically necessary and ordered by a physician treating the patient, in order to obtain Medicare payment for the brace or the test,” the indictment said.

In some cases, the indictment said, Becerril signed orders authorizing braces for people who had limbs amputated.

Prosecutors allege that Becerril signed more than 2,800 orders, averaging less than 40 seconds on each one, and getting paid $20 per patient.

Becerril and the others involved received at least $1.5 million in Medicare funding, the indictment said. If Becerril is convicted, prosecutors will also seek to seize any of his assets that were obtained with money from the scheme, the indictment said.

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