FARGO – U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on March 3, 2014, Robert Olie, 66, Torrance California, was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Erickson, to 12 months of electronic home monitoring and three years’ supervised release for conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Olie was also ordered to pay $417,000 in restitution in addition to $100,000 in forfeiture of assets. Olie was ordered to pay $100 special assessment to the Crime Victims Fund in addition to his sentence.
Olie pleaded guilty on November 18, 2013, for operating Chikanel Medical Supplies in Long Beach, California, between 2008 and 2009. Chikanel Medical Supplies was a fraudulent durable medical equipment supply company that submitted numerous claims for power wheelchairs that were either not provided to Medicare beneficiaries or were not medically necessary. Olie had submitted more than $1.2 million worth of claims to Medicare through its contractor, Noridian Healthcare Solutions LLC, formally known as Noridian Administrative Services, a North Dakota-based company. As part of its responsibilities to Medicare, Noridian Healthcare Solutions LLC processes and pays Medicare claims arising from durable equipment suppliers throughout California.
The case was investigated by Department Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
