Norfolk Man Pleads Guilty to Health Care Fraud and Bank Fraud

On January 19, 2012, Mark Koehler, 52 years old, of Norfolk, Nebraska, appeared before Magistrate Judge Cheryl Zwart in federal court in Lincoln, Nebraska, waived indictment, and pled guilty to an information charging health care fraud and bank fraud. The information charged, and Koehler admitted, that between January 2007 and January 2010, in his position as bookkeeper and accountant for Heartland Physical Therapy (HPT) in Norfolk, he submitted false claims to Medicare, Nebraska Medicaid, and to various private insurance companies totaling slightly more than $1.4 million. The information further charged, and Koehler admitted, that during the same time period he submitted false information to a Norfolk bank in connection with a business lending program, resulting in the bank advancing to HPT approximately $500,000 more than HPT was actually entitled to receive under the program. Sentencing was scheduled for April 24, 2012.

Koehler self-reported his crimes and cooperated in the investigation. As a consequence, his plea agreement provides that the defendant will be sentenced to three years’ incarceration, along with an order of full restitution. The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Nebraska Medicaid program.