In United States v. Anieze-Smith, --- F.3d ---, No. 16-50208 (9th Cir. 2019), the Court "join[ed] the Eleventh Circuit in holding that a district court may order restitution for all losses resulting from a fraudulent scheme, even those caused by conduct occurring outside the statute of limitations."
This was healthcare fraud case surrounding billing medicare for durable medical equipment, specifically power wheelchairs.
The district court sentenced the defendant to five years’ probation and ordered her to pay restitution of $814,445.95, the full amount of Medicare’s losses from the healthcare scheme.
The published opinion focuses on, and affirms, the restitution order. Along with the statute-of-limitations issue noted above, the Court found no error in the district court's determination that each of the wheelchair bills submitted to Medicare was fraudulent, or by finding that the defendant directly harmed the victim.
The Court also rejected the defendant's argument that the restitution amount had to be limited to the five counts charged.
