Couple Scams Medicare Out of $45M: Indictment

A Chicago couple was indicted Monday, accused of using their Lincolnwood health care business to scam Medicare out of $45 million, as well as trying to force their Filipino housekeeper to work for $66 a day for seven years after filing phony Homeland Security papers to bring her to the United States.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Northern District of Illinois, Richard Tinimbang, 38, faces the following charges:

• conspiracy to defraud Medicare
• conspiracy to pay or receive health care kickbacks
• two counts of paying kickbacks to induce referrals of Medicare beneficiaries
• money laundering conspiracy
• conspiracy to obtain forced labor
• presenting false statements in an immigration document

Maribel Tinimbang, 40, also is charged with conspiracy to defraud Medicare, money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to obtain forced labor.

The indictments stem from claims that from 2008 to 2014, the Tinimbangs used their Patients First Physical Therapy Inc. business, as well as three Lincolnwood health care companies owned by Richard's mother, Josephine Tinimbang, in a scheme involving bribes, kickbacks and falsified medical records to fleece Medicare out of $45 million, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The couple then claimed the money as business expenses and used it to make personal purchases, such as their 5,000-square-foot Lincolnwood home, the agency says.

Richard's mother also is accused of using her ill-gotten gains to buy stock shares, automobiles, real estate, jewelry and other personal items, the indictment states. The U.S. Attorney's Office says Josephine Tinimbang is awaiting trial in this case but did not detail what charges she faces.

The Tinimbangs' indictment is part of a larger, multi-agency, health care fraud investigation that already brought charges against 13 other people.

Along with the Medicare scam, Richard Tinimbang also is accused of doctoring Department of Homeland Security forms to allow a Filipino woman legally work for the couple in the States, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Richard claimed the woman would be a business analyst for one of his health care companies, but she actually was employed as a full-time nanny and housekeeper, the indictment states.

Prosecutors also accuse the Tinimbang of trying to force the woman into a seven-year servitude contract that would pay $66 a day no matter how many hours she worked. If she didn't agree, the couple threatened to send her back to the Philippines, and if she left the Tinimbangs' employ before the seven years was up, she would be forced to pay the couple $25,000 in damages, according to the indictment.