As the Dept of Justice is taking more pro-active action to combat healthcare fraud across the nation, the demand for criminal defense service on the part of medical professionals is continuously growing.

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 09/26/2017 -- This year the United States citizens witnessed Medicare and Medicaid enforcement actions unprecedented in their scale both in terms of the number of targeted professionals and organizations and the amount of allegedly misappropriated funds. In June 2017 a joint action of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force and Medicaid Fraud Control Units resulted in over 400 health care providers arrested on charges of Medicaid or Medicare fraud of $1.3 bn total. Surely, not all of the arrested were then brought to court, some allegations turned out to be ungrounded. Still, this is a great example of how a person become a target of criminal investigation though absolutely innocent.

What is important to understand in such a situation is that, whether guilty or not, the person has all the chances to be convicted. In case of a healthcare professional working with such governmentally funded programs as Medicare and Medicaid, the consequences of the conviction include full restitution of the wasted money, a substantial fine, years in prison, as well as exclusion from the programs, and in some cases even license loss.

Joseph Potashnik and Associates PC has a team of health care fraud defense lawyers. With many successfully resolved cases behind their backs, including a few high profile, the lawyers are more than sure that criminal investigation and prosecution can be averted. This can be achieved by setting the right billing practices in the organization and ensuring strict compliance with the regulations.

"Attorneys at this law group are frequently called upon to carry out internal "mock audits" and reviews at medical organizations", says J. Potashnik. "This helps ensure that all the personnel shares an understanding that auditors can turn up at any minute and thus guarantee that everyone makes it their priority to comply with the regulations. However, even if the criminal investigation starts, there are still ways to either prevent criminal prosecution by dismissing the case with the help of the necessary evidence or minimize penalties".

About Joseph Potashnik and Associates PC
Joseph Potashnik and Associates, PC is a New York City multi-practice law firm whose attorneys providing legal representation to clients facing criminal investigations and prosecution in state and federal courts. The firm's criminal defense lawyers specialize in cases of immigration fraud, Medicaid and Medicare fraud, financial crimes, cyber crimes, tax fraud and evasion, and a lot more.

Contacts:
260 Madison Avenue, 21 Floor New York, NY 10016
Local: 212-577-6677
Fax: 212-227-5602
E-mail: Jp@jpolawfirm.com

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/joseph-potashnik-and-associates-provides-medicaid-and-medicare-fraud-defense-870512.htm

As the U.S. government starts implementing more techniques to detect tax-related fraud, more people and businesses are becoming targets of audits and investigations. Joseph Potashnik and Associates PC provides legal help to clients conducting internal compliance audits or facing criminal tax investigations in New York and New Jersey.

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 08/22/2017 -- From its office on Madison Avenue, NYC law group Joseph Potashnik and Associates helps NY and NJ individuals and organizations in tax-related criminal investigations.

According to the recent estimates, the federal government wastes over $400 bn annually on tax evasion. Such a shocking statistic can't but push the government to take more active action to combat fraud, and one of the most effective methods it uses is data analytics. The agents sift through vasts amounts of data to detect deviant patterns.

One example of this analytical technique is the State of Maryland using records of individuals' tax returns. The State's Bureau of Revenue Estimates tags each anomaly it spots with a risk score and has the returns with the highest scores audited by its agents. This allowed the Bureau boost its efficiency by almost 12 times.

Similarly, the NYC Dept of Finance analyzes businesses tax returns over time to find abnormal patterns. This allowed the Department to improve the efficiency of its tax fraud combating efforts by 40%.

"It goes without saying that not every person or organization targeted by the officials as a result of data analytics indeed perpetrated a crime. Sometimes what seems deviant is either an honest mistake or can be easily explained with some facts. In order to make sure that one's rights are observed and the officials are not overzealous when investigating into fraud allegations, it is necessary to retain a tax attorney to represent the person or the firm during the investigation", said J. Potashnik.

About Joseph Potashnik and Associates PC
Joseph Potashnik and Associates, PC is a New York City multi-practice law firm whose attorneys providing legal representation to clients facing criminal investigations and prosecution in state and federal courts. The firm's criminal defense lawyers specialize in cases of immigration fraud, Medicaid and Medicare fraud, financial crimes, cyber crimes, tax fraud and evasion, and a lot more.

Contacts:
260 Madison Avenue, 21 Floor New York, NY 10016
Local: 212-577-6677
Fax: 212-227-5602
E-mail: Jp@jpolawfirm.com

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/joseph-potashnik-and-associates-provides-tax-fraud-defense-852030.htm

As the Department of Justice consolidates its efforts to fight healthcare fraud, Joseph Potashnik and Associates PC, an NYC-based criminal defense law firm, offers legal representation to MA plans companies investigated or charged with Medicare fraud.

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 07/27/2017 -- Founded in 2006, Joseph Potashnik and Associates PC has a team of established attorneys who specialize precisely in government-funded healthcare programs fraud cases. The lawyers represent both Medicare and Medicaid program beneficiaries and providers, as well as private insurers who provide Medicare Advantage Plans.

Such private insurers take on the obligation of the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) to set risk scores for specific patients, which will later determine the amount of reimbursement paid to the healthcare provider by the government and the fee paid to the insurer.

As you see, the specifics of MA Plans make it easy for some insurers to commit fraud by setting higher risk scores, either unintentionally or on purpose. Recently, the Department of Justice reached a settlement of $32.65 million with Freedom Health, a Medicare Advantage insurer. Also, there is an ongoing lawsuit against United Healthcare, one of the largest Medicare Advantage insurance companies that allegedly manipulated risk scores to overbill Medicare. In view of these suits, the Justice Department's new Medicare fraud target is for-profit insurers contracted by the government to manage healthcare.

An investigation into the performance of an insurance company can uncover not only deliberate inflation of risk scores but also other activities that may appear fraudulent to the investigators, for example, some inaccuracies in representation of the provider network of a specific insurer. Therefore, it is necessary for a company facing a DOJ investigation to hire an attorney specializing in False Claims Act allegations. Joseph Potashnik and his colleagues have years of experience in dealing with such cases and they are more than capable of providing effective criminal defense services to Medicare Advantage insurance companies. These NYC healthcare fraud defense lawyers will provide guidance to the insurer on any stage of litigation, from initial audit to criminal investigation to court prosecution, if necessary.

About Joseph Potashnik and Associates PC
Joseph Potashnik and Associates, PC is a New York City multi-practice law firm whose attorneys providing legal representation to clients facing criminal investigations and prosecution in state and federal courts. The firm's criminal defense lawyers specialize in cases of immigration fraud, Medicaid and Medicare fraud, financial crimes, cyber crimes, tax fraud and evasion, and a lot more.

Contacts:
260 Madison Avenue, 21 Floor New York, NY 10016
Local: 212-577-6677
Fax: 212-227-5602
E-mail: Jp@jpolawfirm.com

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/joseph-potashnik-and-associates-pc-provides-consultation-to-medicare-advantage-insurers-839389.htm

An upsurge of immigration enforcement activity by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has resulted in the great number of investigations into H-1B visa fraud and Form I-9 audits.

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 06/29/2017 -- The United States public has already seen some changes in immigration policies undertaken by the current administration. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been dealing with matters of immigration enforcement far more aggressively in recent months. This affects both employers and immigrant workers, as there are far greater numbers of the FDNS (Fraud Detection and National Security) worksite visits. On top of that, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has also been performing more I-9 audits. In light of all these activities by the US authorities, there is a far greater number of related investigations and government lawsuits.

Seeing all of these changes, many law firms expect an increase in the need for effective legal representation by experienced immigration fraud lawyers. The NYC-based criminal defense attorney group Joseph Potashnik and Associates PC is among leading multi-practice law firms that can assist clients in handling immigration fraud allegations and help in conducting form I-9 and immigration compliance audits.

The H-1B visa program is extremely important to many employers across the country, as it allows corporations to hire skilled foreign workforce for occupations that require a minimum qualification level of the Bachelor of Engineering degree or its equivalent. The review of H-1B visa employees and sponsoring employers was up until recently a means to ensure that all associated immigration rules and regulations were met on both sides. But on April 3, 2017, the USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) announced that it would implement a new approach to target employers which have a high ratio of H-1B employees to U.S. workers. The new policy also stipulates allocating workforce for attending to public tips on possible accounts of H-1B visa fraud.

This forces employers to take action, which includes conducting internal audits in order to prepare for possible on-site visits and I-9 audits, and evaluating the current level of regulations compliance. In order to perform such kind of assessments, companies would most likely require a legal counsel to properly construct not only internal audits but also to make necessary changes to corporate training policies, so as to prevent possible penalties that might come as a result of violations found in the process of FDNS worksite visits.

Also, it is paramount to remember that prior to any interaction with government officials, if an employee is approached by a federal agent, corporate management should first contact an immigration counsel. And any documentation, such as Forms I-9 audits should be turned over to immigration agents only when it is specified in a search warrant.

About Joseph Potashnik and Associates PC
Joseph Potashnik and Associates, PC is a New York City multi-practice law firm whose attorneys providing legal representation to clients facing criminal investigations and prosecution in state and federal courts. The firm's criminal defense lawyers specialize in cases of immigration fraud, Medicaid and Medicare fraud, financial crimes, cyber crimes, tax fraud and evasion, and a lot more.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/h-1b-visa-fraud-defense-at-joseph-potashnik-and-associates-pc-826111.htm