Walton County Doctor Arrested for Medicaid Fraud

 
           ~ More than $100,000 defrauded from Medicaid Program ~

 TALLAHASSEE - Attorney General Bill McCollum announced the arrest today of
 Dr. Urmundalvaru Mallikarjuna, 52, a pediatrician from DeFuniak Springs.
 Mallikarjuna allegedly billed the state Medicaid program over the last
 three years for services for which he knew he could not be reimbursed.
 The Walton County Sheriff’s Office assisted the Attorney General’s
 Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) in making the arrest.

 MFCU investigators discovered Mallikarjuna created a scheme to bill the
 Medicaid program for providing Medicaid-recipient children with a physical
 exam, or a “well visit,” when the children had been brought in for a
 “sick” visit in order to double his payment from Medicaid.  Several former
 employees who had attended seminars on Medicaid billing told investigators
 they had explained to Dr. Mallikarjuna that this billing practice was
 illegal.  Investigators learned that Mallikarjuna used a modifier code in
 the billing process in order to further conceal the fraud.

 Dr. Mallikarjuna also allegedly billed the Medicaid program for office
 visits with children that were in reality brief phone conversations with
 their parents.

 The total of Mallikarjuna’s fraudulent billing was $101,657.80.
 Mallikarjuna was booked into the Walton County Jail under one count of
 Organized Scheme to Defraud and one count of Wire Fraud.  If convicted for
 Organized Scheme to Defraud, Mallikarjuna is facing a term of imprisonment
 of up to 30 years along with a $10,000 fine.  If convicted for Wire Fraud,
 Mallikarjuna is facing up to five years imprisonment and a $5,000 fine.

 The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide
 Prosecution.