81-Year-OId Nurse Sentenced To 18 Months For Health Care Bribes

GLENVIEW, IL — The owner of a Glenview health care company was sentenced to a year and a half in prison after admitting to paying kickbacks for patients, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday. Between 2012 and 2014, TLC Healthcare Services fraudulently caused Medicare to pay out more than $390,000 as part of the scheme, which also involved sham contracts. The Glenview nurse in charge of the company pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy to offer and pay unlawful kickbacks and was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison Monday.

Norma De La Cruz, 81, allegedly used most of the profits from the scheme to go gambling. During the time of the conspiracy, she racked up gambling losses of $245,000, and then lost another $76,000 at a Chicago-area casino between her first court appearance and guilty plea, according to prosecutors.

De La Cruz would pay recruiters kickbacks of $500 to $600 per patient, before billing Medicare for home health services she would purportedly provide, according to prosecutors.

She admitted that she looked for recruiters who would refer her patients in exchange for the payments. In one case, she paid a recruiter at least $65,000 for referring patients.

De La Cruz used personal and business accounts to make the bribes, according to prosecutors. She would also use sham contracts claiming the recruiters were providing marketing services.

De La Cruz could not be reached for comment. Listed numbers for TLC Healthcare Services, which formerly operated at 950 Milwaukee Ave., have been disconnected, and the person who answered the phone at a number listed for TLC co-owner Romeo De La Cruz hung up when called by a reporter.