Photo by Jenna Walker / Chattanooga Times Free Press.CLEVELAND, TN. (Times Free Press) -- Federal prosecutors allege that a widespread Medicare fraud scheme at Life Care Centers of America began at the highest levels of the corporate hierarchy and that employees who complained about possibly illegal practices were "ignored," "chastised," "punished" or fired.
Recently unsealed court records in an ongoing whistle-blower lawsuit against the Cleveland, Tenn.-based company reveal claims that the company founder and sole shareholder, Forrest Preston, forbade his own compliance department from conducting unannounced inspections at facilities.
Prosecutors claim that former Chief Operating Officer Cathy Murray circumvented the department's responses to employee complaints while she "aggressively drove the company's push for increased Medicare revenue."
Read more on the story from our news partners at the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
