Lehigh Acres man arrested in US Medicare fraud take down

LEHIGH ACRES, Fla.- The Justice Department calls it the biggest Medicare fraud take down in department history. Officials busted 243 people for stealing hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicare.

The Attorney General says the nationwide conspiracy to defraud Medicare took $712 million in false billing away from the program.

The investigation trickled down to Southwest Florida. According to federal officials, Neil Labori is accused of helping in the conspiracy.

His criminal complaint says Labori was involved in laundering away some of the money, taken in these Medicare schemes, through his business.

Authorities tracked him down after arresting another man, who was running several shell companies to hide the funds.
Labori is currently out on federal bond. He’s accused of depositing stolen Medicare money into bank accounts, belonging to his business, My 3 Sons Locksmith in Lehigh Acres.

Federal investigators say the money came from fraudulent Medicare schemes, where suspects “billed for equipment that wasn’t provided, for care that wasn’t needed, and for services that weren’t rendered,” according to the Attorney General.

His indictment says he allegedly deposited 52 checks in the amount of $258,000.

At his home, family members answered the door, but told us they wanted to speak to a lawyer first, before addressing the media.

Forty-six doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals were also arrested for their alleged participation in the scheme.

The scheme stretched across seven states.