Former owner of Illinois hospice pleads guilty to fraud

CHICAGO (AP) - The owner of a now-closed suburban Chicago hospice has pleaded guilty to falsifying health care claims in a multi-year conspiracy to defraud the federal government.

Seth Gillman was accused of filling Passages Hospice with patients when they didn't need hospice care and over-billing the government for procedures that wasn't required.

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday said the 47-year-old Gillman of Lincolnwood bilked Medicare of more than $7 million between August of 2008 and January 2012. During that time, Passages received more than $90 million in Medicare payments for hospice services, including more than $20 million billed as general inpatient services.

Prosecutors say Gillman faces up to 10 years in prison.

Three other Passages employees have been accused of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government. One, 39-year-old former nursing director Carmen Velez, has pleaded guilty to fraud charges.

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Information from: WLS-TV.