Crooked Wheelchair Salesman Loose in the Birmingham Area (wheelchairs, medical, ears)

[Historic Bessemer]

Crooked Wheelchair Salesman Loose in the Birmingham Area



It appears this is going to be a very busy week for both local and national news. You will remember a short time ago that we reported on a wheelchairs salesman who was violating Medicare rules left and right. The offender's name is Joel Allan Sloan, but he usually introduces himself as Allan Sloan.



Additional investigation indicated that Sloan was working for one of our members. His employer caught him violating Medicare rules, and turned him in to every applicable law enforcement authority. As you may expect if you have been in the business for any length of time, no one took any particular interest in prosecuting the case except the local police in Gardendale. They managed to get the US Attorney's office to take an interest in the case, and on September 30, 2008, the defendant agreed to a plea agreement. The agreement included a recommendation to the judge that he be sentenced toward the lower side of the maximum amount and to repay more than $70,000 in ill-gotten gains. In addition, he was to be on probation for an additional three years, after being released from prison. There is no mention of exclusion from the Medicare program in the plea agreement!



Unfortunately, Mr. Sloan has apparently violated the terms of his agreement already. Using deception, he found a job with another one of our members, who also caught him in very short order and is currently in the process of establishing the nature and extent of his violations.



If anyone claiming expertise in power wheelchair sales and delivery approaches you for a job, please make sure, before you agree to hire him, that it is not this individual. So far, Mr. Sloan has managed to get a job with at least three ADMEA member suppliers, so he is obviously an accomplished con man. All three suppliers quickly learned that he was violating Medicare rules and fired him as soon as they found out. All have tried to get law enforcement authorities to take an interest in his case, but so far only one has succeeded. We hope the third supplier will suceed in proving the plea agreement violation, and get his punishment increased.



Since Mr. Sloan, represented by an attorney, has agreed to a settlement and then violated the plea agreement, we may hope to find him excluded from the Medicare program, but until he has been convicted and the exclusion has been processed, his name will not appear on the OIG's exclusion list. That is why we are publishing this article, in order to warn ADMEA members that even though his name will not be found in that directory, you should not offer him any kind of job.

[Historic Bessemer]

Allan Slaon's sentencing for his first set of Federal Medicare fraud charges was today. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison with time served being counted (6 weeks). So he should be out sometime around June of 2010. He is required to pay back the $72000 he stole, and while he is in jail, he is required to pay $25 a month; I assume he will be able to work in house doing something. He also is not allowed to have any lines of credit once released. After he was sentenced, he stood in front of the judge and said that his ex-wives wouldn't allow him to see his children unless he paid child support, so that is the reason for his stealing. The judge basically told him he was lying....don't know the exact words that were used...had to work so I could not attend! There are still state charges pending and newly discovered medicare fraud charges to be brought against him. He may be there longer than 18 months, but for the 18 months of peace that we will get, I am VERY thankful!!

[Historic Bessemer]

The aforementioned man who is currently serving and 18month sentence in the Federal Prison in Atlanta was sentenced yesterday on the State portion of his crime. He was sentenced to 2 years in a State correctional facility for defrauding tax payers and beneficiaries of the medicare system. He stole 75k from you and I and those older than us by stealing powered wheel chairs and Durable Medical Equipment. He also received 5 years probation and 8 years additional if he commits other crimes while on probation.