West Chicago chiropractor charged with health fraud

A West Chicago chiropractor has been charged with health-care fraud in an 18-count federal grand-jury indictment.

Darwin Minnis, 54, owner of the Spine and Joint Rehabilitation Center in Maywood, was charged along with two associates in the scheme, which allegedly involved falsified workers' compensation claims for U.S. Postal Service employees, authorities said.

Also charged with single counts were Dr. Jacob Salomon, 63, and Gary Strauss, 31, both of Chicago. According to the complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, Strauss worked as a biller and a claims processor at the clinic from 2003 to 2007, and Salomon worked there three years over the same time period.

The complaint charged that they "illegally submitted false claims totaling more than $1 million ... for services that were not provided and for inflated claims for services that were provided."

Minnis and Strauss were accused of forging doctors' signatures on claim forms, as chiropractors are not qualified to do so under federal law, and Salomon was accused of signing false documents making it appear he had treated patients for claims.

"Workers' compensation is a valuable health-care program that provides a safety net to hardworking people injured on the job," said L. Scott Caspall, special agent for the USPS inspector general's office. "This investigation is an effort to dismantle a group of medical providers and billers who the indictment alleges were abusing the program."

All three will be arraigned at a later date. Each count of health-care fraud carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.