April 21, 2008
Media Contact: Sandi Copes
Phone: (850) 245-0150
Broward Therapist Arrested for Falsifying Medicaid Claims
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Broward County therapist has been arrested on charges that he was involved in the theft of more than $50,000 from the Florida Medicaid program. Brian Casteel was arrested by law enforcement officers with the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
The arrest culminated an investigation by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, acting on information received from the mother of a Medicaid recipient. The investigation revealed that Casteel, 40, worked as a Medicaid respiratory therapist in Broward County. Authorities allege that he submitted numerous claims to the Medicaid program for reimbursement for respiratory therapy that he never provided to various children who are Medicaid recipients.
Casteel is currently being held at the Broward County Jail. He is charged with one count of grand theft, a second-degree felony. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.