Kokomo taxi cab company's owner gets probation in fraud case

KOKOMO, Ind. (AP) - The owner of a central Indiana taxi cab company has been sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty to federal Medicaid fraud charges.

A federal judge also ordered Kokomo Cab owner Gene Lawman on Friday to pay about $159,000 in restitution to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Indiana's Medicaid program.

The Kokomo Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/1swl2IL ) that the restitution will reimburse those agencies for the full amount Lawman was accused of receiving as a result of paying cash to Medicaid beneficiaries.

Court documents show that Lawman signed agreements in July 2012 enrolling Kokomo Cab as a transportation provider with Indiana's Medicaid program.

Through those agreements his company received payments for transporting Medicaid beneficiaries to and from locations providing certain covered treatments.

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Information from: Kokomo Tribune, http://www.ktonline.com