A hospice marketer was recently ordered to serve 12 months of home detention and pay $100,000 in fines for their alleged role in a kickback fraud scheme in California.
Callie Jean Black, 66, recently faced sentencing in the U.S. District Court of Central California for allegedly recruiting patients for hospice companies in exchange for illegal kickbacks. Black, a former medical industry marketer, was arrested in 2022 and pleaded not guilty to the charges. Her alleged involvement resulted in $3.2 million in illegal kickbacks for health care referrals.
U.S. Central District of California Judge André Birotte Jr. has recently ordered Black to serve the home detention rather than facing a prison sentence. Home detention can include electronic monitoring and prohibition of leaving a residence or of travel outside of approved areas, among other restrictions. Violation of a home detention can result in immediate arrest or re-incarceration.
The FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the California Department of Justice have investigated this case for several years.
The kickbacks are part of a larger hospice fraud scheme that bilked Medicare of nearly $30 million. The case involved two Pasadena, California-based providers — Saint Mariam Hospice Inc., and Arcadia Hospice Provider Inc. Named in a 14-count indictment were Black, Dr. Victor Contreras, 69, and Juanita Antenor, 62, who owned both hospices.
Both Black and Contreras were detained by California law enforcement agencies for allegedly receiving kickbacks from multiple parties in exchange for Medicare beneficiary referrals and billing for medically unnecessary hospice services. Contreras was sentenced in December 2024 to 24 months in federal prison for Medicare fraud for medically unnecessary hospice services. Contreras was a licensed physician in California, but was on probation with the board since 2015 and was subject to limitations on his practice.
In total, approximately $3,917,946 in fraudulent claims were submitted to Medicare, of which a total of approximately $3,289,889 was paid. Medicare paid on the claims supported by Contreras’ false evaluations and certifications and recertifications of patients. In addition to prison time, the court ordered Contreras to pay more than $3.2 million in restitution. He pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud.
Assistant U. S. Attorney Kristen A. Williams of the Major Frauds Section prosecuted the case. The Justice Department alleges that the defendants provided fraudulent hospice certifications for patients who were not terminally ill and eligible for this care. Each of the two companies is accused of falsely billing Medicare and Medi-Cal for hospice services that in some cases were never provided.
Both hospices submitted more than $5.5 million in claims to Medi-Cal, which paid out a little more than $1.35 million combined to the companies.
Arcadia Hospice Provider submitted false claims to the tune of $23 million, according to the indictment. Meanwhile, St. Mariam Hospice submitted nearly $13.5 million in false claims.
Antenor remains at large and is currently in the Philippines, according to the U.S. Department of Justice Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California. Antenor is charged with six counts of health care fraud.