21 charged in chiropractic insurance fraud conspiracies

U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Andy Luger announced charges against 21 people on multiple chiropractic insurance fraud conspiracies.

The chiropractors billed “no-fault” insurance policies for more than $20 million.

Luger said state and federal law enforcement agencies are cracking down on no-fault automobile insurance fraud.

“The charges unsealed today represent a serious effort to expose crooked billing abuses that harm consumers. The Commerce Fraud Bureau and FBI continue to work closely with my office to ensure that our efforts to stop fraud and abuse are aligned with the interests of all Minnesotans.” Luger said.

According to documents, between 2010 and 2015, Preston Forthun, Angela Schulz, Huy Nguyen, Adam Burke and other Doctors of Chiropractic were a part of schemes with others to defraud automobile insurance companies.

The chiropractors involved would submit claims and receive reimbursements for chiropractic services that were either not necessary or were never provided.

In order to get more patients to come to the appointments that were not necessary, chiropractors made illegal payments to patient recruiters known as “runners.” The runners would make up to $1,000 per automobile accident in exchange for bringing the patient into the chiropractor’s office. The runners only got the kickback amount after the patient attended a certain number of treatment sessions. Runners also worked with patients to stage phony accidents.

Runners involved: Abdisalan Hussein, 48, of Minneapolis, Sahal Warshame, 35, of Minneapolis, Yahye Herrow 45, of Minneapolis, Temitayo Daniel, 35, of Minneapolis, Merron Samuel, 36, of Saint Paul,  Abdirahin Ibrahim, 35, of Saint Paul, Dana Kidd, 35, of Elk River, Samatar Omar, 28, of Edina, Abdinasir Abikar, 31, of Minneapolis, Ali Abikar, 28, of Edina, Dana Comeaux, 57, of Brooklyn Center, Carlos Luna, 48, of Minneapolis, Jerome Doe, 52, of Brooklyn Park, Napolean Deah, 32, of New Brighton, Sammany Spangler, 27, of Woodbury.

Minnesota No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act

Auto insurance policies must include a personal injury protection provision (PIP). The PIP provision carries a minimum coverage amount of $40,000 for expenses resulting from injuries sustained in an automobile accident, $20,000 of which may be used for medical expenses.