A 67-year-old Iowa attorney has been sentenced to six months in federal prison after pleading guilty in a health care fraud case.
Timothy Mark Anderson of Garner worked with clients with nursing home expenses who hoped to qualify for Medicaid. According to the Department of Justice, Anderson is also “an avid collector of luxury vehicles” and prosecutors say he would create a bill of sale for his expensive vehicles, so clients could reduce their assets enough to qualify for Medicaid benefits. Then the elderly clients would give the vehicles to their heirs, who then sold the vehicles back to Anderson at a lower price.
The purchasers “never drove Anderson’s vehicles and, for the most part, never saw them,” according to a news release from the US DOJ. Anderson pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement related to a health care matter. In addition to the prison sentence, Anderson has been ordered to pay over $184,000 in restitution to the state’s Medicaid program and pay a $25,000 fine.
The Iowa Supreme Court’s Attorney Disciplinary Board is considering the suspension of Anderson’s law license. Anderson’s lawyers say he “cooperated with investigators…has conducted himself in an honorable fashion” and “is making efforts to transfer his law practice in Garner.”