Rockport Man Pleads Guilty to Health Care Fraud and Embezzlement

Portland, Maine:  United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Michael A. Morrison, 42, of Rockland, Maine, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to health care fraud and embezzlement from a health care benefit program. 

According to court documents, between 2005 and 2016, the defendant was the manager of the Trade Winds Health, Swim and Tan Club in Rockland which also operated a physical therapy practice known as Coastal Physical Therapy.  From 2014 through 2016, the defendant billed about $175,000 in false claims for reimbursement to Medicare, MaineCare, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and a Veterans Administration health care program. Some claims were false because the defendant exaggerated the length of time therapists spent with patients.  He also made claims for appointments that were cancelled, for services that he provided even though he was not properly licensed, and using the names of therapists who were not working on the dates claimed.

The defendant also embezzled over $26,000 from the Health Club by using a Health Club credit card to pay for personal Amazon.com purchases and stole about $4,500 in cash that he failed to deposit to the Health Club’s bank account.

The defendant faces up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count.  He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; the Maine Attorney General’s Office, Healthcare Crimes Unit; the Department of  Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General; and the Rockland Police Department.