Health Care Fraud Case Touches D.C.’s Lobbying World
Politico: How One Criminal Case Hit K Street
On paper, the National Association for Behavioral Health looked like a thousand other trade groups that can be found in Washington. … The Justice Department called the NABH "a legitimate-looking vehicle" that was essentially controlled by Lawrence Duran, a Miami businessman who pleaded guilty earlier this year to 38 counts of health care fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. Duran was the pivotal figure in a long-running criminal scheme that bilked the Medicare program out of $87 million, but his efforts to influence Washington and play the lobbying game were only recently revealed in a slew of court documents released last month (Bresnahan and Palmer, 10/4).