Healthcare staffing exec charged with fraudulently fixing nurse wages
The exec has been charged with agreeing to suppress and eliminate competition for the services of nurses.
Photo: Dean Mitchell/Getty Images
A federal grand jury in Las Vegas returned an indictment last week charging a healthcare staffing executive with conspiring to fix the wages of Las Vegas nurses – and then fraudulently concealing that conspiracy, and the government's investigation so that he could sell his company for more than $10 million, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to the six-count felony indictment, Eduardo Lopez of Las Vegas held executive positions at three different home health agencies. For each company, Lopez oversaw recruitment, hiring, retention and assignments of nurses and other healthcare staff.
Count one of the superseding indictment charges Lopez and other unnamed coconspirators with agreeing to suppress and eliminate competition for the services of nurses between March 2016 and May 2019.
Counts two through six charge Lopez with wire fraud. According to the indictment, in December 2021, Lopez sold his healthcare staffing company for over $10 million and falsely represented to the buyer of his company that federal law enforcement was not investigating him or his company.
But according to court documents, Lopez knew that was false. FBI special agents had questioned Lopez, served him with a grand jury subpoena addressed to his company and seized his cell phone pursuant to a search warrant.
WHAT'S THE IMPACT?
A violation of the Sherman Act carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals and a maximum penalty of a $100 million fine for corporations. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime, or twice the loss suffered by victims, if either amount is greater than the statutory maximum.
A violation of the wire fraud statute carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Antitrust Division's San Francisco Office and the FBI's International Corruption Unit investigated the case with assistance from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada.
The charges in this case were brought in connection with the Antitrust Division's ongoing commitment to prosecute anticompetitive conduct affecting American labor markets, according to the DOJ.
THE LARGER TREND
It's been a busy year for the DOJ. In February, more two dozen people were charged in the Southern District of Florida for their alleged participation in a wire fraud scheme that created an illegal licensing and employment shortcut for aspiring nurses.
In April, a federal jury convicted three former executives of Outcome Health, a Chicago-based health technology start-up company, for their roles in an alleged fraud scheme that targeted the company's clients, lenders and investors and involved roughly $1 billion in fraudulent financial gain.
Then in July two Florida men pleaded guilty for their roles in a scheme to defraud Medicare by submitting over $67 million in false claims for genetic testing and durable medical equipment that patients did not need and that the defendants procured with kickbacks.
Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: Jeff.Lagasse@himssmedia.com
