Opinion ID: 559981
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Adequacy of the Medicare Fraud Counts of the Indictment

Text: 34 Dr. Hooshmand argues that the Medicare fraud counts suffer from a fatal defect because they fail to allege that he presented false or fraudulent claims to a federal agency, thereby omitting an essential element of an offense under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 287. 9 Because Dr. Hooshmand raises this argument for the first time on appeal, this Court must find the indictment sufficient 'unless it is so defective that it does not, by any reasonable construction, charge an offense for which the defendant is convicted.'  United States v. Chilcote, 724 F.2d 1498, 1504-05 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1218, 104 S.Ct. 2665, 81 L.Ed.2d 370 (1984) (quoting United States v. Trollinger, 415 F.2d 527, 528 (5th Cir.1969) (per curiam)). 35 Count one of the indictment alleged that Dr. Hooshmand presented to Blue Cross a fraudulent claim upon the United States by seeking payment for medical services he never performed. It is reasonable to construe the allegation that Dr. Hooshmand presented a claim to Blue Cross, which the indictment identified as an agent of HHS, as a charge that Dr. Hooshmand presented a false claim to an agency of the United States. This reading is supported by United States v. Catena, 500 F.2d 1319 (3rd Cir.), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 1047, 95 S.Ct. 621, 42 L.Ed.2d 641 (1974), which upheld convictions for violating Section 287 where the evidence established that the defendant caused Blue Cross to submit false claims to HHS' predecessor agency, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. 10 This Court has repeatedly stated that practical, rather than technical, considerations govern the validity of an indictment. Minor deficiencies that do not prejudice the defendant will not prompt this Court to reverse a conviction. Chilcote, 724 F.2d at 1505.